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The figure is up eight per cent year-on-year, after the bank made £2.75 billion during the same period in 2008.
Those trading on the stock market may be interested to note that the financial institution was aided by a strong performance from Barclays Capital, where profit before tax more than doubled, climbing to £1.05 billion.
Poorer results from its retail banking operations offset this gain, however, with this area of the business seeing profit drop by over half to £268 million.
Chief executive John Varley said that the bank has made a "good start" to its aim of delivering "solid" profits over the 12-month period.
He said that Barclays had performed well in spite of the "challenging market conditions", adding: "We have continued to benefit from our diversified business base."
Barclays shares rose on the news, climbing 19.05p to 321.25p in London at 10:43 BST.
