Barclays almost triples full year profit to £3.2bn

Barclays says the Group performance reflects 'good core results' as well as lower conduct costs, with its overall PPI charges falling from £4.4 billion in 2015 to £1.4 billion in 2016.

The Bank added that the appreciation of average USD and EUR against GBP positively impacted income.

Underlying profits (excluding one-off items) rose from £6.2 billion to £6.4 billion, though in both UK and international divisions, profits fell back slightly. Barclays UK saw underlying profits fall from £2.7 billion to £2.6 billion, and Barclays International saw underlying profits fall from £3.9 billion to £3.7 billion.

Barclays also announced it intends to close down its non-core division six months earlier than planned on 30th June 2017.

Group Chief Executive Officer, James Staley, commented: "Accelerating the closure of Barclays Non-Core is a key part of realising the potential of Barclays. In 2016 we reduced Non-Core RWAs by £22bn, with £12bn of that reduction coming in the final quarter alone. Today, we are announcing that we will close Non-Core on 30 June 2017, six months earlier than previously targeted."

The bank has also agreed terms with its subsidiary Barclays Africa to further reduce its stake below 50%.

Laith Khalaf, Senior Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: "Lower PPI costs and currency tailwinds have helped boost profits at Barclays, while good progress has been made in winding down the bad bank that has been holding the group back.

"The performance of Barclays’ core UK and international divisions was somewhat underwhelming though, with underlying profits actually falling back slightly.

"Overall Barclays is in better shape than it was, and the accelerated timetable for the run-down of its non-core assets will be received positively by the market. However once the bad bank is consigned to the history books, there will be nothing for management to hide behind if the core business is not delivering."