Lloyds quarterly net profit soared 72pc

LONDON: Britain’s state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group said on Thursday that first quarter net profit jumped 72 per cent as exceptional costs from a year earlier were not repeated.

Lloyds, which has been returned almost fully to the private sector after a state bailout during the 2008 global financial crisis, added its performance was “strong” despite challenging trade.

Profit after tax soared to £871 million ($1.12 billion, 1.02 billion euros) in the first three months of the year, compared with £506 million in the same period of 2016, LBG said in a results statement.

However, the year-earlier figure was weighed down by a vast £790-million charge linked to the repurchasing of bonds launched after the global financial crisis.

Underlying pre-tax profits meanwhile grew one per cent to just under £2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

“In the first three months of this year we have delivered strong financial performance with increased underlying profit, a significant improvement in statutory profit and returns, and strong capital generation,” said Chief Executive Antonio HortaOsorio. “These results continue to demonstrate the strength of our customer focused, simple and low risk business model and our ability to respond to a challenging operating environment.” — AFP