LONDON: Barclays reported its annual profit nearly trebled as bad loan charges plunged and its investment bank continued its strong recent performance amid market volatility in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The British lender on Wednesday reported profit before tax for 2021 of 8.4 billion pounds ($11.42 billion), up from 3.1 billion pounds a year ago and above the average analysts' forecast of 8.1 billion pounds.
Barclays said it would buy back 1 billion pounds of its own shares and increase its full-year dividend to 4 pence per share, in its first update to investors since C.S. Venkatakrishnan took over as Chief Executive following the shock exit of Jes Staley in November.
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Staley left after a dispute with British financial regulators over how he described his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Venkatakrishnan, who is known inside the bank as Venkat and like Staley is a former employee of JPMorgan, indicated after his elevation to the CEO role that the lender's investment banking-focused strategy is "the right one".
The bank confirmed its long-standing chief financial officer Tushar Morzaria had decided to retire from the lender, with his deputy Anna Cross set to take on the role from April.
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