Surging credit revenues helped Barclays fare better in sales and trading than its Wall Street investment banking rivals in the first quarter, although the UK bank's group chief executive Jes Staley said that there is “more we must do to improve returns” at its new corporate and investment banking unit.

The bank on April 27 posted its first set of quarterly results since the departure of investment bank head Tom King in early March. In that same month the bank formed a new corporate and international division housing its investment bank, large UK corporate, international corporate and international wealth operations, as well as its non-UK Barclaycard businesses.