British multinational banking and financial services company Barclays has released its first quarter earnings highlighted by more than doubled pre-tax profits at £1.68 billion, while net profit was £190 million boosted by strong core business performance. Earnings per share decreased from £2.7 to £1.3 for the first three months of the year compared to the same quarter the previous year.
Barclays UK RoTE increased to 21.6% from Q1 the previous year (20.5%), while international RoTE improved from 9.5% to 12.5% year on year. The British bank also announced it plans on hiring 2,000 new employees in the United Kingdom over the next three years.
“This has been another quarter of strong progress towards the completion of the restructuring of Barclays,” chief executive officer Jes Staley said in the release. “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,” he concluded.
