Barclays has today reported first-quarter profit in line with expectations, as a £228m provision linked to collapsed lender MFS was offset by a steady performance at its investment bank thanks to robust trading.
The British bank posted profit before tax of £2.8 billion for the three months from January to March, up from £2.7 billion a year earlier.
It also announced a new £500m share buyback.
Income at its investment bank rose 4% from a year earlier to £4 billion compared to analysts' forecast for £3.9 billion.
Investors had been braced for a charge after the February collapse of London-based MFS, a little-known lender focused on complex property-related loans, which raised questions over risk checks at lenders including Barclays.
The failure has also fuelled concerns about the health of wider lending markets, including the fast-growing but opaque private credit sector.
"This is very serious, we have to understand the implication of it for our bank and for other banks," CEO CS Venkatakrishnan told reporters on a conference call.
Barclays shares fell 3.2% at the open, underperforming a flat FTSE 100.
Barclays, like other European banks, had seen its shares scale multi-year highs earlier in 2026 as strong interest income, low bad-loan levels and a supportive economic backdrop buoyed profitability.
The bank was also expected to benefit in the first quarter from higher trading activity at its investment bank, after major US lenders reported a surge in trading income this month amid Middle East-linked market volatility.
Barclays said income at its global markets business rose 6%.
That was driven by an 8% year-on-year rise in dollar-denominated revenue at its fixed income, currencies and commodities unit, lagging an average 11% increase at Wall Street rivals, according to Citi analysts.
Equities trading revenue jumped 23%, compared with an average 26% rise at the top US banks.
Fees from investment banking advisory work rose 17% from a year earlier, below the 27% average increase reported by the six largest US banks, according to a Reuters calculation.
Barclays also raised provisions by around £100m to cover compensation for UK car finance customers, following a regulatory redress scheme tied to a mis-selling scandal dating back several years.
