Lloyds banks profit rising as economy shows resilience
Lender’s net profits jump 29% to £1.15b in the three months to the end of March
Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group, bailed out by the government during the global financial crisis, yesterday logged strong first-quarter profits on the back of the “resilient” UK economy.
Earnings after taxation, or net profits, jumped 29 per cent to £1.15 billion (Dh5.8 billion, $1.61 billion, €1.31 billion) in the three months to the end of March from a year earlier, the lender said in a results statement.
LBG, which returned to full private ownership last year following its financial rescue by the UK government a decade ago, added that pre-tax profits swelled 23 per cent to £1.6 billion.
The group however took another £90 million in costs for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims, taking its total bill for the saga to an eye-watering £18.8 billion.
The London-listed financial services giant, whose brands include Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows, operates primarily in Britain.
“We have made a strong start to 2018,” said chief executive Antonio Hora-Osorio.
“The UK economy continues to be resilient, benefiting from low unemployment and continued GDP [gross domestic product] growth,” he added.
“Asset quality remains strong with no deterioration seen across the portfolio.
“We expect the economy to continue to perform along these lines during 2018.”
Britain’s government rescued Lloyds with £20 billion of taxpayers’ money at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008. Lloyds Banking Group was created by a merger of Lloyds TSB and rival British lender HBOS.
However, HBOS was saddled with toxic or high-risk property investments, and LBG subsequently received the vast state bailout under the then-Labour administration.
Last year, the current Conservative government returned the lender to full private ownership after steadily offloading its stake to return about £21 billion to the taxpayer.