Broker snap: Barclays numbers miss forecasts, but Nomura still says buy

While Nomura notes that the Barclays full-year figures came in below expectations, owing to a shortfall in revenue, it maintains its buy rating and 268p target price for the UK lender.Adjusted pre-tax profit was £5.59bn, below consensus estimates of £5.8bn, while adjusted revenue missed forecasts of £29bn, coming in down 8% at £28.5bn. On a profit/loss basis, Nomura says that overall trends were disappointing but in line with the sector."Most importantly, the company has not announced any radical new measures to improve returns and instead has implied the previous RoE [return on equity] target of 13% is unlikely to be achieved by 2013," the broker notes.Nomura says that Barclays still represents a group with limited exposure to legacy risk positions and requires little balance sheet restructuring, however the business mix implies that the RoE outlook is challenged."We estimate the 2012 results represent an effective return on Basel III required equity of 7%, assuming an 11% CT1 [core tier one ratio] and before any negative effects from the ICB recommendations."With the shares trading at 0.6 times tangible book value, Nomura foresees further upside in the current, more positive, background for the sector."However, the absence of positive surprises in today's figures may result in some disappointment in the short term," the broker concluded.BC