Barclays grows corporate lending 14% as small-business loans shrink
Third-quarter results show the bank lending more to clients above £6.5m in revenue while loans and deposits in its unit for smaller firms fell over the year
- Corporate bank profit before tax for the first nine months of 2026: £879m, up 22%
- Corporate bank deposits: £87.2bn at 30 September, down from £88.7bn at the end of 2025
- Corporate bank return on tangible equity, year to date: 21.6%, up from 18.8%
- Group earnings per share for the quarter: 12.3p, up 18% year on year
Barclays links the corporate bank’s loan growth to a stated lending strategy, and its results give no growth aim or reason for the fall in Business Banking balances. For finance directors, the expansion Barclays is pursuing in business lending sits with clients on the corporate side of its revenue threshold.
“In Q326 we drove 7% year-on-year loan growth in our highest returning UK businesses, with particular strength in UK Corporate Bank, up 14% year-on-year.”C. S. Venkatakrishnan, group chief executive, Barclays
Barclays said on 22 October that loans in its corporate bank rose 14% year on year to £33.0bn at 30 September, while loans in Business Banking, its unit for smaller firms, fell to £17.6bn from £18.2bn a year earlier.
The corporate bank serves about 13,000 clients, from companies with annual revenue above £6.5m through to FTSE 350 groups. Its loan book stood at £29.0bn a year ago and £30.0bn at the end of December. The division’s income rose 10% in the third quarter.
Business Banking sits inside the bank’s retail banking division and serves small and medium-sized enterprises with annual revenue below £6.5m. Its loans were £17.9bn at the end of 2025. Deposits from those firms fell to £50.9bn at 30 September from £52.2bn a year earlier.
At group level, profit before tax rose 12% to £2.3bn in the quarter on income of £7.4bn, up 3%. Barclays announced a £500m share buyback and said it is reducing its cost base through “expected technology-enabled FTE reductions”, meaning fewer full-time equivalent staff. It booked £201m of structural cost actions in the quarter, plans about £300m more in the fourth quarter and expects group costs of about £18.5bn for 2026.
The corporate bank has also finished rolling out iPortal, its single digital platform for banking services, to all clients. Barclays said adoption had reached about 45% and is expected to reach 100% by the end of the year.
Sources
- Barclays PLC, “3rd Quarter Results”, RNS announcement, 22 October 2026. https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/barclays--barc/3rd-quarter-results/9835199
