(Alliance News) - Barclays PLC on Wednesday reported a fall in annual profit as a result of credit impairments, citing the "deteriorating macroeconomic forecast".
Shares were down 8.4% at 171.58 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
For 2022, the London-based bank posted pretax profit of GBP7.01 billion, down 14% from GBP8.19 billion the previous year. It booked credit impairment charges of GBP1.22 billion in the year, compared to credit impairment releases of GBP653 million in 2021.
The charges reflected economic forecasts, Barclays said, and a gradual increase in delinquencies, partially offset by the "utilisation of macroeconomic uncertainty [post-model adjustments] and the release of Covid-19 related adjustments informed by refreshed scenarios".
Attributable profit was down 19% to GBP5.02 billion from GBP6.21 billion a year earlier.
Total income was GBP25.0 billion, up 14% from GBP21.94 billion. In the Barclays UK division, full-year income amounted to GBP7.26 billion, up 11% from GBP6.53 billion a year earlier. Net interest income increased by 13% to GBP5.89 billion from GBP5.20 billion, with net interest margin standing at 2.86% compared to 2.52% in 2021.
For the three months ended on December 31, total income was GBP5.80 billion, up 12% from GBP5.16 billion a year earlier. Pretax profit was down 8.3% to GBP1.31 billion from GBP1.43 billion.
The bank declared a full-year dividend of 5.0 pence per share, taking its total dividend to 7.25p per share, up 19% from 6.1p in 2021.
Barclays also plans to start a share buyback of up to GBP500 million, bringing the total share buybacks related to 2022 to GBP1.0 billion. Barclays added that 2022 total capital return is equivalent to 13.4 pence per share.
Chief Executive CS Venkatakrishnan said: "Barclays performed strongly in 2022. Each business delivered income growth, with group income up 14%. We achieved our [return on tangible equity] target of over 10%, maintained a strong common equity tier 1 capital ratio of 13.9%, and returned capital to shareholders. We are cautious about global economic conditions, but continue to see growth opportunities across our businesses through 2023."
Looking ahead, Barclays said that, after the CET1 ratio of 13.9% in 2022, it expects to operate in 13% to 14% range in 2023.
By Xindi Wei, Alliance News reporter
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Barclays (BARC)