Banking giant’s profits hit £2bn

LLOYDS BANKING Group has reported better than expected third quarter profits as Britain’s economy rebounded from pandemic lockdowns.

Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, which includes Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, said pre-tax profits doubled over the quarter.

The banking giant, which emplys around 6,000 staff in Calderdale, posted pre-tax profits of £2bn in the three months to September 30, up from £1bn in the same quarter in 2020.

This was higher than analysts’ forecasts of £1.3bn.

The increase came after the bank released more cash held aside during the pandemic, including £84m in the quarter, meaning that £740m of the £1.2bn held during the Covid-19 crisis has now been added back to the balance sheet.

Over the first nine months of the year, this equates to pre-tax profits of £5.9bn.

It also enjoyed strong growth in mortgage lending, which was up £2.7bnn in the quarter. Deposits also rose.

Chief Financial Officer William Chalmers said: “In the first nine months of 2021 we exceeded our full-year target for lending to first-time buyers, having delivered £12.8 billion of lending against a target of £10 billion.

“This meant we have supported 62,000 first-time buyers to purchase homes so far this year. We are also expanding the availability of affordable and quality homes by increasing our funding to the Housing Growth Partnership. We continue to help businesses grow, adapt and recover. We have supported over 70,000 businesses to start-up, and helped more than 130,000 boost their digital capabilities.

“We also generated £5 billion in net new open book assets under administration in Insurance and Wealth.”

We have supported over 70,000 businesses to startup.

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