Barclays posted a better-than-expected first-quarter profit on Thursday as its consumer banking unit overcame pressure on other business lines.
The British bank posted a pretax profit of 2.6 billion pounds ($3.25 billion), above the bank’s average analyst projection of 2.2 billion pounds and higher than last year.
The lender’s consumer, cards, and payments sector earned 1.3 billion pounds, up 47%, due to surging credit card balances after it acquired Gap’s portfolio last year.
Investment banking, a recent strength, was uneven, with global markets trading revenue down 8% and corporate deal fees falling 7%.
