Barclays' consumer revenue increased 47% as homeowners made larger loan payments.

For the first quarter, Barclays recorded a pretax profit of £2.6 billion as higher interest rates increased its revenue in the UK.

Only a 1% gain in the bank's business and investment bank division was offset by a 47% increase in income from its consumer division.

The performance of investment banking was less consistent, with income from the trading of global markets down by 8% and fees from providing corporate transaction advice falling by 7%.

The bank announced a pre-tax profit of £2.6 billion, better than the £2.2 billion average expert projection and £2.2 billion recorded at the same period last year. 

Additionally, it experienced a five percent increase in net interest income for the UK business in comparison to the same quarter last year, reaching £1.6 billion. Net interest income is the difference with regard to what a bank makes from loans and what it pays for deposits.

"This is a great first quarter," said Barclays Group CEO, "with group income up 11% to £7.2 billion, profit before tax up 16% to £2.6 billion, and a group return on tangible equity (RoTE) of 15% and earnings per share (EPS) of 11.3p.

"All three enterprises have done well, generating double-digit returns and high-quality income increases.

"The momentum across the group allows us to maintain a robust capital position, deliver attractive returns to shareholders, and support our customers and clients through an uncertain economic environment."

Due to greater US card balances and the further normalisation projected in US card delinquencies, bad debt reserves increased to £524 million from £141 million.

(yahoo.com, barclays.co.uk)