Barclays undershoots profit expectations

Good morning,

We’re into bank results season, and Barclays has missed profit expectations - posting a £2.3bn profit but falling short of the internal consensus of £2.4bn. This comes as the FTSE 100 giant’s investment banking division undershot forecasts. All of this, of course, comes less than a week before an expected tax hike on banks at the Budget.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has lifted its profit targets but also warned that conditions are “tough at the moment”. Sales growth for the supermarket slowed, whilst the retailer’s chief executive Simon Roberts looks to focus more on Sainsbury’s core food offering (they’ve already shed Argos, back in July).

So, here’s everything you need to know this morning. We’ll be back in your inbox at noon with Midday Markets.

Matt

Monday 24 November 2008, and MPs are gripped by one of the most consequential parliamentary debates of the past 30 years.

As Chancellor, the late Alistair Darling had just told the House that his pre-Budget statement was being “made against a background of economic uncertainty not seen for generations” and that they had gathered in “extraordinary, challenging times for the global economy.”

It came as total income at its investment bank – a key revenue-raising engine of the group – came in at £3.1bn, compared to a £3.3bn forecast. The division grew just one per cent from the same period in 2025.

Barclays’ equities division followed a similar pattern on Wall Street, soaring 47 per cent to £1bn on the back of the market volatility triggered by the US-Iran war.

The FTSE 100 firm said the deal to acquire the New York-based business “significantly expands LSEG’s fixed income offering”.

The deal marks a major win for British private equity group Permira, who acquired the business for just $1.3bn as recently as 2022. It marks the biggest takeover by LSEG since the firm’s blockbuster $27bn acquisition of US data services provider Refinitiv in 2021.

Oil pressures have climbed higher after a drone attack on Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oil field killed two people. The incident renewed tensions in the Middle East and heightened concerns over further disruptions to energy supplies.

Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – was trading above $111 on Thursday morning reversing any losses from earlier in the week.

Growing fears of inflation and rising interest rates are combining to worsen consumer attitudes ahead of the Chancellor’s first budget, prompting businesses to warn that they cannot encourage spending any more without tax cuts. 

Outside in the alleyway, City workers gather so tightly around upturned beer barrels that people trying to pass from one end to the other literally give up and come in for a pint.

Inside, it’s Dickensian cosy or Dickensian rambunctious, depending on whether you’re near the bar or sitting in the tiered seating at the back. Towards the back of the ground floor, old illustrated maps of London and chalked up blackboards with daily food menus are lit by vintage brass wall lamps.

It’s baffling that sport’s global leaders are still prevaricating over Russia as the LA28 Olympics and Paralympics draw ever nearer, says Ed Warner.

Labour may have approved the Jackdaw gas field, but it is still set on destroying our industrial base to save the planet. It’s another to engage in unilateral economic disarmament so China can sell us the cars we used to build. We must reverse this madness, licence drilling in the North Sea, and make energy abundant again, says Richard Tice.

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