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Barclays on Thursday reported first-quarter net income of £1.55 billion ($1.93 billion), beating expectations and returning the British lender to profit amid a major strategic overhaul.

Barclays reported its first quarter profit fell 12% on Thursday, as it showed early signs of the difficulties it will face in delivering on its first strategic revamp in a decade.

Dettol, Durex and other living essentials provider Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RKT, ETR:3RB) flew to the top of the FTSE 100 risers list on Wednesday despite delivering a 4.5% fall in statutory revenues. The secret sauce was organic sales growth (which strips out currency fluctuations and MA adjustments) of 1.5%, which Barclays analysts pointed out was “significantly better” than the 0.9% decrease forecasted by City.

Several major UK lenders have announced increases to mortgage rates as speculation over when the Bank of England will cut base interest remains skewed. NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG), Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC) and HSBC Holdings PLC (LSE:HSBA) all announced mortgage increases from Tuesday as a result, anticipating rate cuts to come later than initially thought.

The UK's three largest clearing banks – Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest – report first-quarter results this week, with analysts bullish about the sector as they see low valuations and the prospect of more bumper capital returns in the next few years.

Barclays named Stephen Pick of Credit Suisse as the new head of its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) business in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region on Monday.

Barclays maintains a broadly optimistic view on the earnings outlook for UK banks, foreseeing a recovery in net interest margins (NIM) over the coming quarters, with a favourable view on NatWest in particular. Barclays expects its lending competitor to surpass first-quarter earnings guidance on 26 April and to post an upward revision to its full-year guidance.

Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC) has become the first big lender to hike mortgage rates after inflation rose quicker than expected in March. Two and five-year mortgage rates have been increased, Barclays announced on Friday, as it unveiled sweeping product changes, which included some cuts.

Barclays Bank President and Head of Investment Bank Mgmt Stephen Dainton believes flight to safety will continue in markets. He speaks with Haslinda Amin on "Bloomberg Markets: Asia.

BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) has lost an appeal in the UK to reclaim tax on the asset manager's US$13.5 billion (£10.8 billion) takeover of Barclays Global Investors in 2009. Following a years-long dispute, Britain's Court of Appeal denied BlackRock's efforts to reclaim funds from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on Thursday.