Ahead of Barclays' AGM, this afternoon, analyst Ian Gordon at Investec writes that: "As a generality, we regard the Barclays AGM as a circus which can be safely ignored." However, they quickly add that today's first quarter trading update was more detailed than expected and "appears to be a shade ahead of our expectations." Thus, on Thursday morning the lender said it is expecting adjusted profit before tax to show "a small reduction" for the first three months of the year versus the comparable period of 2013. The broker, on the other hand, had been looking for £1.6bn in profits before tax in comparison to the £1.8bn seen in the first quarter of 2013. "So we think this implies a small 'beat'", Investec said. As regards, the "significant" decline in revenues within Barclays' Fixed Income, Commodities and Currencies (FICC) unit, Investec further pointed out that it had estimated that they would fall by 30%. Hence today's announcement may perhaps be 'less severe'. Concerning the bank's description of Equities and Investment Banking as being "broadly in-line", Investec thinks that puts revenues at those units "a shade below" their expectations.Despite the above, based on his calculations Barcap's revenues will be ahead of his own £2.9bn forecast.Lastly, Gordon highlights how today's statement was silent on any "below the line" items. In his opinion, "no news is good news". For that reason, he explains to clients that he does not expect any meaningful incremental charges for litigation or conduct issues in the first quarter.The previous recommendation to 'buy', with a price target of 295p, was reaffirmed. AB