Barclays vows to cut costs by £2 billion and return £10 billion to shareholders

Core Viewpoint - Barclays plans to restructure its business to cut costs by £2 billion over the next two years and aims to return £10 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends by 2026 [1] Group 1: Restructuring Plans - Barclays will reorganize into five segments: U.K. bank, U.S. consumer bank, U.K. corporate bank, investment bank, and private banking and wealth management division over the next three years [1] - The restructuring aims to drive higher returns and predictable shareholder distributions [1] Group 2: Financial Targets - The bank aims to reduce its annual costs from £17 billion by £2 billion, targeting £1 billion in savings for 2024 [2] - Barclays plans to increase its total income to £30 billion annually by 2026, up from £25.37 billion in 2023, with the investment banking arm expected to contribute £2.7 billion of the £4.6 billion increase [2] Group 3: Recent Performance - Barclays reported a 6% drop in pre-tax profits to £6.56 billion for the full year 2023, missing consensus estimates by 2% [2] - The decline in profits was attributed to a 5% drop in revenue from the corporate and investment banking division and a 12% increase in operating costs to £16.93 billion, which included a £0.9 billion restructuring hit [3] - Since CEO Venkatakrishnan took control in November 2021, Barclays' share price has dropped 19% [3]