"This is the first time Barclays has reported since getting rid of its bad bank, but anyone who hoped this might simplify its financial reporting will be sorely disappointed."
Income fell to £5.2bn, down 5% on a year ago, but this was offset by significantly lower operating expenses, largely thanks to a 90% fall in litigation and conduct charges.
Reported profits so far this year have been dragged down by writedowns on the sale of Barclays Africa in H1, so Barclays is currently £628 million in the red in the nine months to 30th September.
Like Lloyds, who released its interim figures yesterday, Barclays has made no further PPI provisions having already set aside £1.9 billion.
James E Staley, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “The third quarter of 2017 was particularly significant for Barclays as it was the first for many years in which we have not been in some state of restructuring.
"Having closed the Non-Core unit, and sold our controlling interest in Barclays Africa in June, we now have the end state Transatlantic Consumer and Wholesale Bank - in Barclays UK and Barclays International - which we set out to build in March of 2016.
"Our experience over the past couple of years, and the multiple opportunities for revenue growth within our diversified Group, confirms for us that these targets are attainable. We have strong plans in place to achieve them, including self-funded investment to realise further efficiencies and to grow revenue.
"Whilst working to put our remaining conduct issues behind us, we remain focused as a management team on being in a position to distribute the returns that these plans will generate, on a sustainable basis, to shareholders. Accordingly, at the full year results announcement early next year we will provide an updated capital management policy for the Group.”
Laith Khalaf, Senior Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: "There’s a lot of noise in Barclays’s latest trading results, with one-off charges, adjustments and writedowns muddying the waters considerably. This is the first time Barclays has reported since getting rid of its bad bank, but anyone who hoped this might simplify its financial reporting will be sorely disappointed.
"Peering through the murk, the good news is that PPI costs are falling out of the equation, and there’s maybe a hint of a dividend increase coming next year. Aside from that the UK business has largely tracked sideways, while in the international business there’s been a big dip in revenues from trading activities in the investment bank.
"Litigation still remains a risk for Barclays, with more than 20 separate investigations ongoing, not least one relating to CEO Jes Staley’s attempt to uncover a whisteblower in his own ranks. However like Lloyds, Barclays has made no further provisions for PPI in the third quarter, despite the FCA kicking off a high profile advertising campaign.
"After making some good progress, Barclays appears to be stalling somewhat and it’s now touch and go whether the bank will break even in 2017. With the bank’s restructuring complete, Jes Staley will want to recover some momentum as we move forward into next year."
