(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc’s bankers made the most of the booming deals market, helping offset more muted earnings at its trading units in the third quarter.Investment banking fees at the London-based lender rose by 59% to 971 million pounds ($1.3 billion), following the strong performance of U.S. peers. Analysts had predicted 775 million pounds in revenue from this business, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Revenue from fixed income trading, though, plunged by 20% as the rally that drove record profit a year ago petered out. Equities trading revenue rose 10%, driven by strength in derivatives and financing. The results mirror Wall Street’s top firms that have been capitalizing on a golden era for dealmaking since the start of the pandemic. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s mergers-and-acquisitions business posted its best quarter ever.“While the CIB performance continues to be an area of strength for the group, we are also seeing evidence of a consumer recovery and the early signs of a more favorable rate environment,” Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley said in a statement on Thursday.

Barclays is considering shaking up parts of its global markets unit under global head C.S. Venkatakrishnan to prepare for volatility drying up after the pandemic. Discussions with underperforming traders are ongoing and job cuts can’t be ruled out, Bloomberg News has reported. The investment bank, headed by Paul Compton, has undergone staff changes in New York and is targeting U.S. tech IPOs as an avenue for growth. 

Barclays, the first major U.K. lender to publish earnings, said pretax profit more than doubled at its domestic unit as lending improved and impairments decreased. 

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