Barclays executive chairman John McFarlane on Wednesday set its investment bank’s leadership a challenge of matching its performance so far this year over the longer term, after flat revenues and a decline in restructuring costs from a year ago helped drive second-quarter pre-tax profits to a two-year high.

Barclays today unveiled a 35% rise in profits at its investment bank, with the £765 million marking the highest three-month profit figure at the unit since the second quarter of 2013. The rise came despite flat revenues of £2.1 billion, as operating costs fell to £1.4 billion from £1.6 billion in the second quarter last year.