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.

Euro gains on potential Biden-Putin summit

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.