Barclays PLC said it would more than double its dividend next year even as the bank swung to a full-year loss, hit by a weak performance at its investment bank and a charge related to U.S. tax reforms. The British bank said Thursday it would aim pay a dividend of 6.5 pence a share in 2018. The move raises the payout back to the level it was at two years ago when it was cut to fund a restructuring at the group. Shares in the lender opened 5% higher Thursday morning. The proposed higher payout comes despite Barclays falling to a GBP1.9 billion ($2.64 billion) net loss in 2017, compared with a GBP1.6 billion profit the previous year. Total income fell 2% on the year to GBP21.1 billion as the bank shed operations. The investment bank continued to drag on results, with markets revenue slumping 17% in the last quarter compared with the year before. However, Chief Executive Jes Staley said that the investment bank had performed strongly so far this year as volatility returns to markets. "We are pleased with the start to the year, and in particular in the markets businesses in CIB, where income is tracking above the level for the corresponding period in 2017 in dollars," he said in a statement. The results come as Barclays is at a crossroads. Mr. Staley has spent more than two years reshaping the lender into a U.S. to U.K. universal bank. Investors now want to see how the diverse businesses--stretching from credit cards to equity derivatives--click together. Sustained profits still look a way off. The bank said on Thursday that it would only meet its cost of equity, around 10%, by 2020.via