Barclays announced on Thursday that its earnings per share in the last quarter of 2020 came in at £0.01, falling 68% compared to the same three-month period in the previous year. Over the same period, income declined 7% to £4.9 billion. The bank's CET1 ratio rose to 15.1% which compared to 14.6% in September 2020.

The company added that earnings per share declined 61% to £0.95 in the full-year 2020 while total income rose 1% to £21.8 billion.

"Given the strength of our business, we have decided the time is right to resume capital distributions. We have today announced a total payout equivalent to 5p per share, comprising a 1p 2020 full-year dividend and the intention to initiate a share buyback of up to £700m. We expect to comment further on capital distributions when appropriate. Barclays remains well-capitalized, well-provisioned for impairments, highly liquid, with a strong balance sheet, and competitive market positions across the Group. We expect that our resilient and diversified business model will deliver a meaningful improvement in returns in 2021," CEO James Staley said.