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# Barclays Reports Q1 2026 Return on Tangible Equity of 13.5% and Announces £500m Share Buyback
- URL: https://www.theglobalbanker.com/barclays-q1-2026-rote-13-5-500-million-share-buyback/
- Published: 2026-04-30T13:18:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T23:26:26.000Z
- Description: Barclays reported a Q1 2026 return on tangible equity of 13.5% and announced a £500 million share buyback as group income rose 6% to £8.2 billion and EPS climbed 8%.
- Author: TGB Editorial Team
- Tags: Banking News, Europe

Barclays has reported a first-quarter return on tangible equity of 13.5%, with earnings per share up 8% at 14.1 pence, and unveiled a £500 million share buyback as part of its results announcement. Group income rose 6% year on year to £8.2 billion, while profit before tax rose to £2.8 billion from £2.7 billion, despite a single-name impairment charge of about £0.2 billion in the Investment Bank linked to UK mortgage lender MFS.

Group chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan said Barclays had delivered "another solid quarter", with double-digit returns in all of its businesses. Alongside the buyback, the bank reported that group net interest income excluding the Investment Bank and Head Office had increased 12% on the prior year to £3.4 billion.

#### INCOME GROWTH ACROSS THE GROUP

The 6% year-on-year increase in group income to £8.2 billion reflects broad-based growth across Barclays' businesses. Barclays said the increase was driven by higher net interest income, supported by structural hedge income and lending growth, and by higher income in Global Markets and Investment Banking fees, partially offset by net losses on fair value lending in the Investment Bank.

Profit before tax of £2.8 billion translated into the reported 13.5% return on tangible equity, above Barclays' 2026 target of a return on tangible equity of more than 12%. Earnings per share rose 8% to 14.1 pence, as attributable profit increased 4% to £1,932 million and the basic weighted average number of shares fell 4%.

The reported first-quarter return on tangible equity of 13.5% is above the more-than-12% target Barclays has set for 2026, though below its 2028 target of more than 14%. Mr Venkatakrishnan said the breadth and quality of the group's businesses meant "we remain confident in delivering all our financial targets across a range of environments".

#### £500 MILLION BUYBACK

The buyback of up to £500 million will start after completion of the ongoing £1 billion buyback announced with the full-year 2025 results, and Barclays plans to return more than £15 billion of capital to shareholders between 2026 and 2028\. The group has said it has a continued preference for buybacks, which it announces quarterly.

Barclays said its CET1 ratio of 14.1% would have been 13.9% at the end of March after taking the buyback into account. The bank reiterated all of its 2026 and 2028 targets alongside the results.

Credit impairment charges rose to £823 million from £643 million, primarily driven by the £228 million single-name charge, and Barclays now expects its full-year loan loss rate to be around the top of its 50-60 basis point through-the-cycle range.