Barclays announces £500m buyback as quarterly profit rises 12%
The UK lender reports stronger lending and retail net interest income alongside weaker fixed-income trading, and plans another return of cash to shareholders.
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The UK lender reports stronger lending and retail net interest income alongside weaker fixed-income trading, and plans another return of cash to shareholders.
Barclays reported a 12% rise in pre-tax profit to £2.3bn for the three months to 30 September and announced a further £500m share buyback on 22 October. About 60% of the roughly 5,000 job cuts announced alongside those results affect support roles, including software developers, the bank said.
A buyback returns cash to shareholders by purchasing the bank’s own shares. The Guardian reported that the announcement brought shareholder returns so far in 2026 to £2.8bn, up 46% from a year earlier.
The planned reductions amount to about 5% of Barclays’ global workforce. Chief financial officer Anna Cross said 1,000 jobs had already gone, with another 4,000 expected to go before the end of 2026. Cross said the reductions formed part of plans to save more than £1.1bn in 2027.
Barclays’ statement said that about 60% of the cuts concern support employees, including software developers. The BBC reported that most affected posts are operational and functional roles, with the bulk in UK retail banking. Investment banking is also affected.
Barclays attributed the cuts to investment in technology and said artificial intelligence (AI) was making some work processes more efficient. Asked how many cuts were directly linked to AI, chief executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan said broader technology investment and simpler processes had driven most efficiency gains so far.
Venkatakrishnan described AI as the “icing on the cake” of modernising the bank’s technology, saying Barclays was applying it where its infrastructure was modern. He said AI could play a larger role in future but did not give a number for job cuts directly attributable to it. The New York Times reported that Barclays plans to use AI “at scale”.
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Barclays said it was building the workforce and skills needed to carry out its strategy and meet customers’ and clients’ changing needs. The bank expects its efficiency measures to deliver more than £1.1bn in savings in 2027, with the remaining job reductions due by the end of 2026.
Stronger UK lending and retail net interest income contributed to the quarterly performance. Net interest income is the difference between what a bank earns from lending and what it pays on deposits. Quarterly profit and investment-bank income both fell short of analysts’ forecasts.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| UK lending | Up 7% year on year |
| UK corporate lending | Up 14% year on year |
| UK retail net interest income | £2bn, up 6% |
| Investment-bank income | £3.1bn, below analysts’ forecasts |
| Fixed-income trading income, including bond trading | Down 19% |
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