Barclays profit falls as it reveals costly overhaul of bank

Barclays has revealed a drop in its full-year earnings as it spent £1 billion over 2023 on efforts to restructure the bank.

The company shared an investor update with major plans to reorganise the business as it hopes to boost profits and reduce costs.

It said it made a pre-tax profit of £6.6 billion over 2023, 6% lower than the previous year and coming in slightly below the expectations of analysts.

Over the fourth quarter, its profit plunged by 92% from £1.3 billion the previous year to £110 million.

It came as the bank revealed £927 million worth of structural cost actions in the final quarter, including £300 million related to staff.

Barclays said this involved “rightsizing” its headcount, having previously announced it cut 5,000 full-time roles last year.

The bank’s chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, who is known as Venkat, said: “Our new three-year plan, which we will be announcing at the investor update today, is designed to further improve Barclays’ operational and financial performance, driving higher returns, and predictable, attractive shareholder distributions.”

It marks the first major strategy update for several years for the banking giant and has been much anticipated by investors.

Barclays also announced plans to return at least £10 billion to shareholders over the next two years, through dividends and share buybacks.