Barclays profit surges in third quarter

British bank Barclays on Wednesday reported a 72-percent surge in quarterly net profits after strong retail and credit card performances more than offset a mixed showing by the investment unit.

Profit after tax jumped to £1.0 billion ($1.3 billion, 1.1 billion euros) in the three months to September compared with the third quarter of 2017, Barclays said in a statement.

“In spite of macro-economic uncertainty, and particularly concerns over Brexit which weigh heavily on market sentiment, 2018 is proving to be a year of delivery… at Barclays,” said chief executive Jes Staley.

“We remain focused on generating improved returns, and on distributing a greater proportion of excess capital to shareholders over time,” he added.

Pre-tax profit also surged, to £1.46 billion in the reporting period despite a fall in income to £5.13 billion.

“A jump in profits at Barclays can be largely put down to a lower level of bad loans,” noted Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers.

“The recent volatility we have seen in global markets should also help out a bit with trading income at the investment bank, though questions will still linger, not least as activist investor Edward Bramson reportedly wants to shrink this division,” he added.

Staley told a conference call with reporters that he intended to stick to his strategy of having strong retail and investment banking divisions sitting side by side.

American veteran banker Staley joined Barclays three years ago, tasked with restoring the bank’s battered reputation following a series of high-profile scandals, including the rigging of foreign exchange and Libor interest rate markets.

Barclays’ share price was up 0.8 percent to 167 pence in morning deals Wednesday on London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was 0.2-percent higher overall.

Barclays’ performance in the first quarter had been hit by a huge US fine over its conduct in the run-up to the global financial crisis a decade ago.

Barclays agreed earlier this year to pay a $2.0 billion fine to resolve a fraud case involving mortgage derivatives.

As a result, the bank took a hit of £1.4 billion from the US settlement.