Analysts still upbeat about Barclays despite H1 profit decline

The stock market gave a warm reaction to Barclays' first-half results on Wednesday, with analysts upbeat about the bank's better-than-expected results.The lender reported a 7% fall in adjusted pre-tax profit to £3.35bn, which it blamed on currency movements and a fall in Investment Bank profitability, but still managed to beat most analysts' expectations.Numis Securities reiterated a 'buy' recommendation for the stock, saying that "Investment Bank revenues were better than feared, the balance sheet is strengthening and the non-core run-off is progressing well".Espirito Santo, Deutsche Bank and Santander also kept their 'buy' ratings for Barclays.Richard Hunter, Head of Equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said that Barclays is "riding the wave of a recovering UK economy". He said that much of the recent negative news - related to ongoing regulatory investigations - has already been priced in to the stock, which has fallen 23% over the past year."Despite the continuing niggles for both Barclays and the sector in general, market consensus remains confident on the progress being made in refining the bank, with the overall view coming in at a 'buy'," Hunter said.The stock was up 4.04% at 227.94p by 10:36.Samuel Springett, a trader at Accendo Markets, said that traders "could not buy shares quick enough" on Wednesday morning which is a "welcome relief for shareholders after seeing the share price hit year lows last week".He sdded: "The drop in investment banking revenue, coupled with more provisions for miss-selling has not dented trader's confidence as they scrambled for shares at any price on the open."BC