Barclays has reported a pre-tax profit before tax for the first quarter of 2015 of £1.34 billion.
This compares to £1.82 billion posted in the same period last year.
This included £800m of provisions for investigations and litigation primarily relating to Foreign Exchange, an additional £150m provision for PPI redress, a £118m loss on the sale of the Spanish business, a £429m gain on the valuation of a component of the defined retirement benefit liability and an own credit gain of £128m.
Antony Jenkins, Barclays’s group chief executive, said: “This performance represents another quarter of continued delivery, with further progress towards becoming the Go-To Bank.
“Our Core business, the future of Barclays, generated an adjusted PBT of £2.1bn, up 14% and representing our best quarterly performance in several years. Return on average equity was close to 11%, while return on average tangible equity was above 13%. Personal and Corporate Banking had another good quarter of profit growth, Africa Banking profits were also up considerably and Barclaycard maintained very good returns as we invested for growth in the business. The Investment Bank had a good Q1, with PBT up 37%, representing a performance which is more indicative of the potential of the franchise following the repositioning undertaken last year.
“Adjusted PBT for the Group increased by 9%, and our fully loaded CET1 ratio improved to 10.6%, in spite of the conduct provisions taken. Costs were down 7%, RWAs in Barclays Non-Core shrank by £10bn in the period, and we can see positive jaws across the Group.
“This further demonstrates that the Transform strategy is working and, while there is more to do, the business is starting to realise its potential.
“Resolving legacy conduct issues is also an important part of our plan to transform Barclays. We are working hard to expedite their settlement and have taken further provisions of £800m this quarter, primarily relating to Foreign Exchange.
“While we still have much to do, I am pleased with how we’ve begun 2015.”