LONDON, Oct 24 Reuters Barclays hinted at major cost cutting to come later this year, as it reported a third quarter profit that narrowly beat expectations but flagged pressure on its margins from competition for savers.

The British lender reported pretax profit for the period of 1.9 billion pounds 2.33 billion on Tuesday, down from 2 billion pounds a year ago but above consensus analyst forecasts of 1.77 billion pounds.

Barclays, facing a downbeat outlook for interest margins especially in Britain, said it is evaluating material structural cost actions to help improve returns, which could incur hefty charges as soon as the fourth quarter this year.

These results are likely to lower market expectations further for UK banks, and we see a negative readacross for Lloyds and Natwest, banking analysts at JPMorgan said in a note, citing the margin pressures flagged by Barclays.

The bank held off on any unscheduled returning of excess capital to shareholders, following a 750 million pound buyback in July that helped take the sting out of disappointing halfyear results.

Barclays chief executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan said the bank would provide an investor update alongside its fullyear results that will set out its capital allocation priorities and revised financial targets.

The bank said its net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, in its British retail bank would now likely come in at between 3.053.1, below previous guidance of around 3.15, as political…