Barclays has reported lower profits for the start of the year, as mortgage lending and deposits dipped and its investment bank was squeezed amid prevailing economic uncertainty. The high street banking giant reported a group pre-tax profit of £2.3 billion for the first three months of the year, down 12% from the £2.6 billion reported this time last year. However, the latest quarterly earnings figure came in above analysts’ expectations of £2.2 billion. Barclays said income from its UK operations fell 7% year on year, with it facing more subdued mortgage lending amid weaker demand in the market. It saw customer deposits dip by 2% driven by lower customer account balances, which the bank said reflected broader consumer trends. Barclays also revealed that income from its investment bank fell 7% year on year, as a strong performance in the equities division was more than offset by lower activity in areas such as fixed income trading. Barclays group chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said the bank was “focused on disciplined execution” of its cost-saving plan. It aims to save about £1 billion by making the bank more efficient this year, and is targeting about £2 billion worth of savings in total by...