Barclays below forecast + mixed fortunes for trusts – Daily Business

Barclays: Q3 rise

Barclays posted a 12% rise in third-quarter profits and a new share buyback worth £500m.

Pretax profit for the July to September period came in at £2.3 billion, up from £2.1bn a year ago, but slightly missing average of analysts’ forecasts of £2.4bn.

Barclays’ investment bank reported total income in the third quarter of £3.1bn, lower than forecasts for £3.3 billion.

Barclays’ solid results kick off the banks’ earnings season which will be overshadowed by Chancellor John Healey’s first budget on 28 October when taxes may be increased.

CS Venkatakrishnan, chief executive, said: “I am pleased with the ongoing momentum of Barclays’ operational and financial performance.

“With one quarter to go before the end of our original three-year plan, we have either achieved or are on track to achieve all of our 2026 group targets. We are confident in and committed to the 2028 targets that we laid out earlier in the year.

“The investment bank delivered strong equities performance, offsetting a challenging environment for FICC [fixed income clearing corporation].”

Aberdeen Asia Focus

Aberdeen Asia Focus, which invests in Asia’s smaller listed companies with long-term growth prospects, said net asset value in the year to the end of July outperformed all its peers over several periods, driven by strong stock selection, diversification and disciplined portfolio construction.

During the period the company delivered a NAV total return of 22.3% and a share price total return of 23.9% (MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index returned 9.5%). Net assets increased to £630.2 million (2025: £558.6m) and net asset value per share increased to 460.05p (2025: 381.72p).

The company reported exceptionally strong earnings and returns from technology-related holdings, balanced with exposure to a range of sectors, and underlying growth drivers, including diversified industrials, financial services, healthcare, logistics and domestic consumption, ensuring the portfolio’s resilience without reliance on any single theme.

It has declared three interim dividends of 1.6p and a fourth interim of 1.64p totalling 6.44p (2025 – Ordinary dividend 6.43p).

Krishna Shanmuganathan, chair commented: “Despite the challenges posed by geopolitical tensions, trade policy developments and rising global bond yields, the Board is pleased to announce another year of strong performance, with a share price return of 23.9% against 9.5% for the index over this period.

“Asia continues to offer a broad opportunity set of innovative and entrepreneurial businesses, which often derive revenues from domestic demand and are relatively sheltered from global macro shifts.

“We remain optimistic about the prospects for Asian smaller companies, which are often under-researched and under valued providing an ideal hunting ground for our manager to continue to seek further outperformance.”

Aberdeen UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust

Aberdeen UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust chair Liz Airey has written to shareholders outlining the case for merger with JP Morgan UK Small Cap Growth & Income, announced last month.

The merger will be implemented via a scheme of reconstruction. Dividends per share increased to 14p, and the ongoing charges ratio decreased to 0.77%.

Today the company reported a 4.1% fall in net asset value total return for the year ended 30 June, with a share price total return down 3.6%, underperforming its reference index which was 6.1% higher.

Total assets decreased by 31.9% to £271.9 million, and equity shareholders’ funds fell by 31.3% to £246.9m.

In a letter to shareholders, chair Ms Airey says: “Sentiment towards the UK economy has been negative for some time given the challenges it continues to face in terms of low GDP growth and high debt levels exacerbated by high interest rates.

‘This shapes the outlook particularly for smaller UK companies which are more exposed to the domestic economy, including its high energy costs,  than larger more globally oriented companies. Given the tight fiscal constraints, there is great uncertainty over how the government will tackle the policies needed to stimulate growth in the imminent Budget.

“What is clear is that the valuations of these companies are at historic lows, and in many cases with yields as high as large companies. The attractions of the asset class are further evident from the string of bids we have seen for such companies over the past year.

“The board is confident that the asset class contains significant opportunities for investors and that its recent recommendation to combine your company into a larger, more cost effective, investment trust managed by JP Morgan Funds offers shareholders an improved way to benefit from exposure to smaller UK companies over the period ahead.”

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