The global pandemic hit the bank's bottom line, as has been the case with a number of other lenders around the world.

UK-listed Barclays yesterday said that it logged a 2020 pre-tax group profit of £3.1 billion ($4.32 billion), falling from £4.4 billion a year before. Profit attributable to shareholders fell by 38 per cent year-on-year to £1.526 billion.

Results were hit by credit impairment charges linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, rising to £4.8 billion from £1.9 billion a year ago, the lender said in a statement. 

The group doesn’t split out results for its wealth and investment management sector.

Group operating costs, at £13.7 billion, inched up by 1 per cent on a year earlier.

Barclays said it had a Common equity tier 1 – a standard international yardstick of a bank’s capital buffer – of 15.1 per cent, rising 130 basis points from a year before, reflecting measures including the bank’s decision to cancel its full-year dividend payment for 2019.

The bank, which like its peers has had to rein in dividends amid the pandemic, said it “understands the importance of delivering attractive total cash returns to shareholders.” It announced a total payout equivalent to 5 pence per share. It intends to start share buybacks of up to £700 million, due to start from the first quarter of this year. 

“It is an incredibly welcome sight to see that Barclays has resumed its dividend payment, which is in itself a sign that it is confident in its outlook,” Adam Vettese, analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro, said. “The strong performance of the bank’s corporate and investment arm meant that it was able to remain profitable throughout the pandemic, something that few firms are able to say.”

“However, there are some worrying signs in Barclays’ retail arm, which has been battered by lower margins and the fact that people have been taking on less credit and paying down debts during coronavirus. The deteriorating economic situation also forced Barclays to increase the amount of cash it sets aside for bad lending by more than 150 per cent to £4.8 billion, which could be a canary in the coalmine for something serious coming down the line,” Vettese added.