Q2 income £8.3bn vs £8.1bn expected
Q2 profit before tax £3.3bn vs £3.1bn expected
£1bn buyback, upgraded guidance
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“Barclays delivered a strong second quarter, with income and profit coming in ahead of expectations. The Investment Bank did much of the heavy lifting, helped by buoyant share trading and a recovery in corporate dealmaking, while loan impairments at the group level were lower than feared. Costs were higher than expected, but income grew faster, and the combination of a larger dividend and £1bn share buyback adds further weight to an encouraging set of numbers.
The outlook has also improved, with Barclays raising its full-year income target and expecting more benefit from its core banking activities. UK lending continues to grow, and the Investment Bank is producing much healthier returns, although it still has more to prove against the scale of its US rivals. For now, the strategy is moving in the right direction, with stronger profits supporting investment in the business as well as increased cash returns to investors.”
Notes to Editors
HL is the UK’s largest investment and savings platform for private investors and more than 2.2 million clients trust us with £205 billion (as of June 2026).
We help Britain build wealth, with confidence. Our promise is simple: to provide the best products, the best support and the best value. Founded in 1981, we’ve been helping people save and invest for a better financial future for more than four decades. We offer a lifelong, secure home for our clients’ investments and savings, combining great value with outstanding service, to make managing your money easier at every stage of life.
Our award-winning Savings & Resilience Barometer measures the nation’s financial resilience across our 5 to Thrive pillars, equipping people with the tools they need to strengthen their financial futures.
Saving and investing is for the whole family, and to support intergenerational wealth transfer, we’ve removed all platform charges and share dealing fees on our Junior ISA, meaning kids go free, and we’ve reduced the platform fee on our Lifetime ISA to 0.25%, supporting those savings for their first home or for retirement.
Regular saving into all funds, FTSE 350 shares, and selected investment trusts and ETFs is free.
Our clients also have access to the most comprehensive pension and retirement solution, including SIPP accounts, SIPP Income Drawdown, UFPLS payments and annuities, as well as over 14,000 investment options across funds, shares, ETFs, investment trusts, bonds and gilts.
HL Active Savings is the UK's largest retail cash savings platform that lets savers easily make more of their money and the HL Cash ISA allows savers to manage their Cash ISA portfolio across multiple banks, all within one account.