Strong equities trading revenues and deal fees ​contributed to the surge which exceeded the consensus estimate of about £5.94bn.

Group income rose 11% year-on-year to £16.5bn, with the investment bank showing a 20% income increase.

The bank also announced a ⁠fresh ⁠share ‌buyback of £1bn, above forecasts ​for £831 ​million.

It declared a dividend of 5.9p per share, a significant increase from the previous year’s 3p. The company has also upgraded its 2026 Group income target to approximately £31.5bn. 

C S Venkatakrishnan, Group chief executive, commented: “I am pleased with another strong quarter for Barclays.

“We are upgrading the 2026 Group income target to c.£31.5bn and remain committed to, and confident in, delivering all financial and distribution targets for 2026 and 2028.”

Nick Sherrard, managing director of Label Sessions, said: “The complex global environment has upsides and downsides for an institution like Barclays, but today’s positive update is the result of the transformation that the bank has driven itself.

“Barclays has attached itself to some big commitments for this year – doubling investment in technological transformation and making £2 billion of efficiency savings by 2028. Deliver on those promises and it could be a very different bank in the future.

“The UK corporate bank is a case study of the pattern it needs to repeat. Returns have jumped past 21% after Barclays collapsed five separate tech platforms into one, doubled self-serve interactions, and got new clients reaching four products in half the time it used to take. The test for Barclays now is how quickly it can scale innovation like that across the bank.”