It has been a while since investors in UK banks had cause to celebrate but shareholders in Barclays (BARC) were toasting a small win last week as the high-street lender posted first-quarter profit above market expectations, sending its shares to new 12-month high of 200p.

The core UK retail business saw net interest income dip 4% to £1.55 billion as customers borrowed less and deposit-holders shifted their money into higher-earning accounts, but credit quality remains healthy for now so the bank only took £58 million of provisions for bad loans against nearly double that amount in the same period last year.

Barclays’ investment bank had a weak quarter compared with the likes of Goldman Sachs (GS:NYSE) and JPMorgan (JPM:NYSE), posting a 7% drop in income due to lower activity in its fixed-income and commodities business, but overall investors seemed happy with the results.

Chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan was keen to draw attention to the bank’s success in raising its return on tangible equity to above its medium-term target of 12%, and reiterated the bank’s target of returning at least £10 billion to shareholders between 2024 and 2026, or more than one third of its current market cap, through dividends and buybacks. 

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