Barclays 'optimistic' after profits surge
Barclays has cheered a strong start to the new year, with profits more than doubling in the first quarter as it edged closer to the end of a major restructuring programme.
The British lender said group pre-tax profit surged to £1.68bn (€1.98bn) in the three months to March 31, up from £793m (€937m) in the same period last year.
Chief executive Jes Staley, who has been offloading unwanted businesses to focus on UK and US operations, said the bank has nearly completed its overhaul.
"This has been another quarter of strong progress towards the completion of the restructuring of Barclays. Group profit before tax more than doubled compared to Q1 of 2016, and our core businesses continued to perform very well."
He added: "We are now just two months away from completing the restructuring of Barclays as a transatlantic consumer, corporate and investment bank, and there is further good reason in this quarter's performance to feel optimistic for our prospects."
