Barclays Q3 2026 Results: Bond Trading Falls Short, 5,000 Jobs Go and a £500 Million Buyback

Barclays reported third-quarter 2026 profit before tax of £2.32 billion on Thursday, October 22, up 12% from a year earlier but below the roughly £2.4 billion in company-compiled forecasts, Reuters reported. Income rose 3% to £7.37 billion. The bank announced a new share buyback of up to £500 million, and finance chief Anna Cross told reporters that Barclays will cut about 5,000 jobs this year, roughly 5% of its staff.

The shares fell as much as 2.6% to 408.3 pence in early London trading, Investing.com reported, as the investment bank's bond-trading desks came in well below forecasts. By 09:55 BST they had recovered to 421.45 pence, up 0.5%, according to Sharecast, while a UK bank index was down 1.76% later in the morning. Barclays shares were down 14% this year before the results, Reuters said.

Bond trading fell 19% while equities rose 47%

Income from fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) trading fell 19% to £1.01 billion, against the £1.3 billion analysts expected, Reuters reported. Equities trading income rose 47% to £1.01 billion, so the two desks ended the quarter almost the same size. The investment bank as a whole brought in £3.1 billion against a £3.3 billion forecast. Chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan said of the bond-trading result: "I am disappointed, and you can be sure this will get my attention."

Lower charges did much of the work

Profit grew faster than income because charges fell. Credit impairments dropped to £503 million from £632 million. Litigation and conduct costs turned into a £16 million credit, against a £255 million charge a year earlier. Operating costs rose 7% to £4,565 million and included £201 million of restructuring, which Barclays calls structural cost actions, with about £300 million more planned for the fourth quarter. Return on tangible equity (RoTE), a measure of profit against the bank's equity excluding goodwill, was 11.7%, down from 16.1% in the second quarter.

About 5,000 jobs are going this year

Cross said about 1,000 of the roughly 5,000 roles have already gone and the other 4,000 or so will go by the end of the fourth quarter. About 60% are in support functions, including software developers. The results statement describes them as technology-enabled reductions. Venkatakrishnan credited years of spending on technology and called artificial intelligence "the icing on the cake, it's not the cake." Barclays already plans gross efficiency savings of more than £2 billion over 2026 to 2028.

Buyback and targets

The new buyback of up to £500 million brings capital returns announced for 2026 to £2.8 billion, 46% more than a year earlier. The CET1 ratio, the main measure of a bank's capital strength, would be 14.0% after the buyback. Barclays said it is on track for a 2026 RoTE above 12%, and RoTE for the first nine months was 13.8%. It kept its 2028 target of a RoTE above 14%.

The reaction was milder than in July. On July 28, Barclays beat profit forecasts with £3.25 billion before tax, and the shares still fell 4.2% to 508.20 pence because costs came in higher than expected, Alliance News reported.