Barclays absorbed a £200 million charge in the first quarter tied to its exposure to Market Financial Solutions, a troubled private property lender, dragging its shares down 2.7% in early London trading Tuesday.
The bank still reported pre-tax profit of £2.81 billion for the first three months of 2026, a 3% increase from £2.72 billion in the same period a year ago. Its CET1 capital ratio, a key measure of financial strength, stood at 14.1%.
Despite the credit hit, Barclays moved to reassure investors with a capital return program. The bank announced a new £500 million share buyback to follow its current £1 billion program once that is completed. Altogether, Barclays said it intends to return more than £15 billion to shareholders between 2026 and 2028.
The loss tied to Market Financial Solutions drew attention to risks building inside private credit markets, a corner of finance that has expanded rapidly as traditional banks pulled back from certain types of lending. Barclays did not detail further the nature of its exposure or whether additional losses were expected.
The results landed on a busy Tuesday for European corporate earnings. Novartis reported a 12% annual drop in group operating income to $4.9 billion, falling short of the $5.3 billion analysts had expected. BP posted profits that more than doubled on surging oil prices. The broader Stoxx 600 was down 0.1% as markets waited on Washington's response to Iran's proposal to end the two-month-old war.
Barclays' quarterly figures and the announced buyback will be closely watched by investors who have been tracking the bank's progress on its multi-year turnaround plan under CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan, who has worked to simplify the bank's structure and improve returns across its consumer and institutional businesses.
