The UK banking group logged a broadly positive set of results for the wealth and private banking side of its business.

UK-listed Barclays today said that total income at its private bank and wealth management arm rose 12 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024 to £351 million ($439.3 million); for the whole year, it rose 8 per cent to £1.309 billion.

This business division logged an attributable profit in Q4 2024 of £63 million, a gain of 34 per cent; it fell 13 per cent for 2024, to £288 million. The cost/income ratio in Q4 2024 was 75 per cent, narrowing from 82 per cent. Return on average allocated tangible equity dipped to 19.1 per cent from 23.9 per cent, Barclays said in a statement. 

Invested assets (under management and supervision) rose to £124.6 billion at the end of last year, rising from £108.8 billion, Barclays said. Results were buoyed by an inflow of new client balances across deposits, lending and investments. Rising markets also helped drive results. 

Costs in this division rose 15 per cent, caused by investment in people, product and platform changes as Barclays executes its three-year plan.

Group results
The lender said that across all divisions (UK corporate bank; private banking and wealth; investment bank; US consumer bank; and head office), total income in Q4 rose 24 per cent to £6.964 billion. Attributable profit was £965 million, swinging back into the black after a loss of £111 million a year before.

During 2024, attributable profit across the whole bank rose 24 per cent to £5.316 billion. The cost/income ratio narrowed sharply in Q4 2024 to 66 per cent from 88 per cent. At the end of December 2024, there was a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a standard international measure of a bank’s capital shock absorber – of 13.6 per cent, down slightly on a year earlier.

"In 2024 we met our financial targets, delivering for our customers and clients, with operational and financial performance improvement driven by disciplined execution of the three-year plan. This delivered a Group return on tangible equity of 10.5 per cent for the year and £300 million of capital distributions, including the £1.0 billion buyback announced today,” C S Venkatakrishnan, group CEO, said.

Shares slip
Investors appear unimpressed by the Barclays figures, with shares down 4.7 per cent around 09:00 GMT, at 293 pence per share.

“Early price action for Barclays looks a little harsh after the group set a decent benchmark for the banking sector, closing the year with an impressive final quarter as both its UK and Investment Banking arms delivered. Credit quality remains solid, with loan loss rates comfortably below target, and while there was a dip in the final quarter, stripping out the higher-risk business from the Tesco deal shows that credit performance actually improved. With more exposure to US consumer trends than most UK peers, stable US card default rates should also be reassuring for investors," Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said.

"The £1 billion buyback taps into its strong capital position, and with £10bn expected to be returned to shareholders between 2024 and 2026, there’s enough on offer to keep markets happy. The only minor downside was the lack of guidance upgrades, but overall, investors should be pleased with these results, the immediate price reaction likely a result of the strong run up coming into results," he added.