Barclays cheap compared with peers

The trading performance included a patchwork of adjustments, disposals and changes in valuations. Specifically, the bank set aside an additional £750m in the fourth quarter to account for investigations into and litigation for foreign exchange market rigging, taking the total provision to £1.25bn. On top of this, the PPI mis-selling scandal received an extra provision of £200m, taking the full-year net charge to £1.1bn.

However, there was solid progress on running down the so-called non-core side of the business, with non-core risk-weighted assets falling by £35bn to £75bn. And since the year-end the bank has also completed the sale of its Spanish business, albeit at a loss of £446m. But the sale will trim another £5bn from risk-weighted assets. All this has helped improve the group's capital cushion, and its Tier 1 ratio (which compares its highest quality capital with risk-weighted assets) rose from 9.1 per cent to 10.5 per cent following the Spanish disposal.

There was significant progress on reducing the bad debt charge. Helped by the improving UK economy, this fell by nearly a third to £2.17bn. And Barclays has also been bearing down on its cost base, with adjusted operating expenses down 9 per cent to £18.1bn, including a 5 per cent reduction in headcount. At 70 per cent, the cost-to-income ratio remains high, though - the equivalent for Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) last year was 51.2 per cent.

A 15 per cent increase in Barclaycard customers to 30m helped lift the credit card provider's profits by 13 per cent to £1.34bn. However, the investment bank saw profits slide by a third to £1.38bn, mainly as a result of reduced volatility and client activity.

Analysts at Numis Securities are forecasting pre-tax profits of £5.76bn and year-end net tangible assets (NTA) of 298p a share (from 285p).