Barclays promised to increase loans to customers by £11bn ($16bn) this year at the start of the bank’s annual meeting, where shareholders registered their disapproval with the board’s decision to seek investment from Middle Eastern investors.

Marcus Agius, the bank’s chairman, expressed “sincere regret” to the bank’s shareholders for the “financial hardship” they had suffered over the past year as a significant minority of investors voted against his re-appointment.