LONDON Barclays announced a new £750 million share buyback and upgraded its longer term earnings guidance on Thursday, driven in part by an upswing in investment banking performance that offset a 9% fall in profit over the first half of 2024.

The bank's pretax profit of £4.2 billion for the six months to end-June was above the £3.8 billion average of analysts' forecasts, and down from £4.6 billion in the same period a year ago.

Barclays said it was upgrading several longer-term return goals, including a return on tangible equity (Rote) greater than 12% Rote by 2026, compared with a 10%-plus target in 2024.

The lender also outlined an income goal of £30 billion by 2026.

Barclays shares were trading 1.4% higher at 0719 GMT, while major British bank rivals all nursed losses.

A 10% rise in income at its investment bank over the second quarter, driven by the equities business, helped Barclays match the bumper returns from trading desks reported last month by Wall Street rivals.

Barclays said equities income for the second quarter rose 24%, compared with an 18% increase for Morgan Stanley, 7% for Goldman Sachs and 21% for JPMorgan.

Shareholder Richard Marwood, head of income at Royal London Asset Management, described the Barclays results as "pretty solid", adding that the lender remains one of the few major banks still trading at a discount to its book value.

The British bank's strong performance in equities has been part fuelled by market share gains in the lucrative world of prime brokerage, serving hedge funds' complex trading needs, Reuters reported last week.

Barclays also reported fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) revenues fell 3%, while investment banking income from deals rose 44%.

The lender, which is shrinking its European business, said it remains in discussions with respect to the disposals of its remaining non-performing and Swiss-Franc linked Italian retail mortgage portfolios.

  - Reuters