Barclays first half profit up 23%, announces $1.3 billion buyback
Pretax profit for the January-June period totalled 5.2 billion pounds ($6.94 billion), above analysts' average forecast of 4.96 billion pounds.
The bank also announced a fresh share buyback of 1 billion pounds.
($1 = 0.7492 pounds)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
12 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Polarising Donald Trump's North Sea comments tapped into growing frustration
It's time to listen to the point made by US president Donald Trump and turn his soundbite on the North Sea into a smart, sober policy, writes Ryan Crighton. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Donald Trump's shoot-from-the-hip diplomacy was on full display in Aberdeen this week as he waded into the UK's energy debate, calling for lower taxes on North Sea oil and gas operators. The president's remarks – delivered both in person and online to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – will have raised eyebrows in Westminster. However, in the north-east of Scotland, where redundancies are mounting, his comments tapped into a growing sense of frustration. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad US President Donald Trump on the first tee during the official opening of the New Course, the second championship course at Trump International Golf Links, on the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire | PA He may be a polarising messenger, but his advocacy for the repeal of the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) aligns with what the data, the workers and the businesses on the ground have been saying for over two years – that the windfall tax is killing off a vital British industry and a crucial national asset. According to data from Offshore Energies UK, 10,000 jobs have already been lost since the levy's introduction by the Conservative government in 2022. Harbour Energy, the UK's largest oil and gas producer, has since laid off 600 people in Aberdeen alone. These aren't abstract statistics — they are highly skilled individuals, families, and communities being sacrificed on the altar of fiscal short-termism. The failure of the north east green freeport bid is a major blow for a regional economy transitioning away from fossil fuels. Picture: Andy Buchanan/Getty Worse still, the economic wreckage isn't even delivering the returns that were promised. Independent analysis from Stifel shows EPL revenues have consistently come in at the low end of government forecasts. Why? Because the supposed "windfall" they are taxing does not exist. Oil prices are down 50 per cent since the peak of the Ukraine crisis. Gas prices have collapsed by 80 per cent. The result is a textbook case of policy failure. Tax hikes intended to boost revenues have instead triggered a collapse in investment, with over £20 billion of planned capital spending now cancelled or paused. Exploration activity has ground to a halt. Fields are being decommissioned prematurely. The UK is forfeiting not just jobs and tax income, but its energy security. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This shouldn't just be of concern to those living and working in Aberdeen - this should alarm everyone, because the UK still needs oil and gas. Even in the most ambitious net-zero scenario, the country will require between 13 and 15 billion barrels of oil equivalent by 2050. Right now, we're on track to produce less than four. And that energy shortfall isn't going to be filled by wind turbines and hydrogen pipelines overnight. The reality is that we are swapping cleaner, domestically produced energy for dirtier, imported alternatives. According to the North Sea Transition Authority, gas extracted in the UK has less than a quarter of the carbon footprint of imported LNG. Yet we are allowing that domestic capacity to decline while increasing our reliance on higher-emission imports from the US and Qatar. It is environmental hypocrisy at its worst. All the while, the UK government continues to claim we are 'maximising value' from our domestic resources. But how? By driving capital offshore? By gutting the supply chain that is also needed to deliver renewables, carbon capture, and green hydrogen? By forcing energy companies to pay tax rates that, in some cases, exceed 100 per cent? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ryan Crighton, policy director at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce and a senior partner at True North Advisors. | True North Advisors In 2024, Harbour Energy reported a pre-tax profit of £950 million. However, after accounting for an effective tax rate of 108 per cent, the company posted no net profit for the year. This level of taxation is without parallel in the UK economy. It's not just unfair - it's economically suicidal. The UK's approach also compares poorly to our North Sea neighbours in Norway. While their headline tax rate is similar, the Norwegian government supports exploration and shares risk through its fiscal regime. That's why Norway continues to attract investment and why its energy sector is thriving. We, by contrast, have taken the opposite path – penalising production, scaring off capital, and hoping for different results. What's even more galling is that the levy is being used to fund Great British Energy – the new public clean energy company set-up by the Labour Party. According to Stifel, EPL revenues are set to collapse from £5.5bn to under £1bn by 2029. You cannot fund the future of energy by strangling the very sector that underpins it. So yes, President Trump is right to shine a spotlight on this issue. But the solution isn't a populist soundbite or a quick political win. It is a long-overdue dose of energy pragmatism. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad That means abolishing the EPL – now – and restoring a stable, competitive tax regime that can unlock investment, extend production and retain the critical skills base we will need for the next generation of energy infrastructure. It also means rejecting the false binary between fossil fuels and renewables. The future is not oil or wind. It is oil and wind. And hydrogen. And carbon capture. We need all of it. Everything, everywhere, all at once. The UK cannot build a low-carbon future while dismantling the industrial engine required to deliver it. A managed transition must be just that – managed. And that means recognising the continuing role of oil and gas, treating our energy sector with the strategic seriousness it deserves, and stopping the ideological war against the basin that still powers Britain. So, let's take Trump's call and translate it into smart, sober policy. Not because he said it, but because the facts demand it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The North Sea doesn't need special treatment, but it does deserve fair treatment. The alternative isn't a greener future – it's a weaker Britain.
Telegraph
12 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The British public deserves to know what Miliband discussed with Beijing
When the Government signed a deal on net-zero co-operation with Canada, the text of the memorandum was published. So too were the texts of deals with Ireland, Norway, South Korea and Chile. Five months after the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband signed a similar memorandum with the Chinese government, however, we are still in the dark as to precisely what was agreed. Chinese media have asserted that the Energy Secretary agreed to co-operation on power grids, battery storage, offshore wind power and carbon capture, among other areas; it is understood that Chinese investment in the UK was not discussed by Mr Miliband. The role of the Chinese state in Britain's net-zero ambitions may well be an uncomfortable issue for the Labour Government to discuss. While the Defence Secretary is insisting that Britain is 'ready to fight' over the future of Taiwan and the Foreign Secretary is explicitly referring to China as a 'sophisticated and persistent threat' that requires hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding for the intelligence services, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been courting Chinese investment, and Mr Miliband's drive to meet his net-zero targets is heavily dependent on Chinese industry. Both the switch to electric vehicles and the decarbonisation of the energy grid will make heavy use of Chinese products. One study commissioned by the German defence ministry recently warned that this position at the heart of Western energy systems could result in Beijing enjoying the power to trigger remote shut-downs as 'an instrument of economic warfare'. Such concerns are less hypothetical than we might wish. Earlier this year, undocumented communication devices were located in Chinese-made power inverters exported to the United States, triggering fears that Beijing could use compromised equipment to 'physically destroy the grid'. This would be fully in line with the current approach of the People's Liberation Army to warfare as a clash between systems, and the extensive Volt Typhoon operation carried out by Chinese state-sponsored actors. Even given the understandable desire to avoid a sudden break with China, the delicacy of the balance between trade and reliance is such that the British public deserves to know what Mr Miliband has discussed with Beijing.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Red state homeowners are rushing to make major home improvement to cut bills and bag 30 percent tax credit
In the wake of Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill', Florida homeowners are clamoring to add solar panels to their homes before it's too late. Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law on July 4. Amongst restrictions to Medicaid and tightening on immigration, it also moved up the deadline for homeowners wishing to receive a tax credit for their solar panels. Now, homeowners who want to conserve energy and earn a 30 percent tax credit must have their solar panels installed by the end of the year. US Representative Kathy Castor told Floridians at a press conference this week: 'Our message today is if you are interested in lower–cost solar for your home or for your business, for your church, synagogue or mosque — you have to act now.' And act they have, but the rush is overwhelming local solar panel companies and creating a dismal future for the industry in Florida as a whole. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the appropriately named Sunshine State ranked third in the solar industry. Over 20,000 solar panel systems have been installed, employing 14,000 Floridians. The often sweltering heat and sunny conditions makes low–coast solar a good way to decrease electric bills and promote environmentally-friendly living. President Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4 Among other things, the act moved up the deadline for Americans to receive a 30 percent tax credit for installing solar panels on their homes Solar companies in Florida are now scrambling to meet the demands of citizens who wish to make changes to their home before the new December 31 deadline Florida House Representative Kathy Castor (pictured) ridiculed the decision in a press conference and encouraged residents to act fast Bill Johnson, who runs Brilliant Harvest in Sarasota, Florida told the Tampa Bay Times: 'Within 48 hours of the bill being signed, we had enough contracts to complete the year.' It could take weeks for companies like Johnson's to obtain the proper permits and contracts to even begin installing solar panels. So to get that tax credit homeowners must start immediately. Steve Rutherford, the CEO of Tampa Bay Solar said he can't train enough installers to fulfill every request by the December 31 deadline. But after that deadline has come and gone, solar industry professionals worry what a drastic decline in demand will do to their business. Without the government incentive to install green energy, Tampa businesses could see job losses. Rutherford said that these realizations are 'a bit of a funeral in the industry'. Johnson was a little more optimistic and noted that he'd already had clients create contracts for next year, despite losing out on the tax credit. 'This is a body blow,' he said. Bill Johnson (pictured), who runs Brilliant Harvest, said 'Within 48 hours of the bill being signed, we had enough contracts to complete the year' It can take weeks to obtain the proper permits and contracts for solar panel installation Steve Rutherford (pictured), the CEO of Tampa Bay Solar called the change 'a bit of a funeral in the industry' With or without a tax credit, Americans may save hundreds of dollars a year after installing solar energy. File photo above Officials worried that losing federal support for solar programs could cause electric bills everywhere to rise, especially amidst the heat waves Tampa had seen this summer. 'As TECO, Duke and FP&L ask for higher rate increases and your electric bills go up, part of the reason is because of the big ugly bill, and taking away the tax credits you were enjoying for cleaner, cheaper energy,' said Castor. According to the United States Department of Energy, solar panels may still be a good thing for your wallet with or without a 30 percent tax cut. Installation can increase the value of a home by an average of $15,000. Depending on a home's location, sunlight exposure, and climate, owners could still save hundreds of dollars a year, per the US Department of Energy.
