Barclays shares rose on Tuesday after the bank released Q4 and full-year 2025 results that beat expectations and set the group up well for 2026.
Group FY25 income increased 9% year-on-year to £29.1 billion, with net interest income reaching £12.8 billion, meeting guidance of greater than £12.6 billion.
C. S. Venkatakrishnan, Group Chief Executive, said, “Barclays achieved all financial guidance in 2025. RoTE was 11.3% as all divisions delivered double-digit RoTE. We distributed £3.7bn to our shareholders, including the £1.0bn share buyback announced today, up from £3.0bn in 2024.”
Momentum continued in the fourth quarter with group income increasing 2% to £7.1 billion and profit after tax rising 21% to £1.5 billion.
Barclays shares were 1% higher at the time of writing.
The strong results will be welcomed by investors who are enjoying a protracted rally in Barclays shares as the bank and the rest of the sector shake off economic and political concerns.
“Barclays has delivered a resilient performance, with revenues beating consensus by 0.44%. This result reinforces the bank’s ability to perform across various economic cycles, and the upgraded 2026 guidance should be well-received by the market,” explained Max Harper, Analyst at Third Bridge.
“The bank’s progress toward its 2025 targets is encouraging. Income is growing steadily, supported by the structural hedge bolstering NII and the market environment driving non-NII growth, alongside strategy. Looking ahead, future revenue growth should be focused on Barclays driving cross-sales across its existing customer base, with targeted acquisitions such as the Tesco Bank retail business likely to be accretive.
“However, there are still gaps in the strategy. NatWest’s acquisition of Evelyn Partners represents a missed opportunity for Barclays; our experts continue to highlight the bank’s relatively weak UK wealth proposition as an area where a bold move could have driven rapid growth.”