Lloyds defies '˜challenging' market to double profit
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
The lender, which is now less than 2 per cent owned by the taxpayer, posted first quarter pre-tax profits of £1.3 billion, up from £654 million a year earlier.
• READ MORE: Lloyds to start compensating victims of HBOS fraud
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOn an underlying basis, the group – which owns the Bank of Scotland and Halifax brands – saw a more muted 1 per cent rise in profits to £2.08bn.
Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said: “In the first three months of this year we have delivered strong financial performance.”
He added the results show the bank’s “ability to respond to a challenging operating environment”.
The vast profit improvement is helped by the absence of last year’s hefty £790m charge from its controversial move to buy back expensive bonds from investors.
Lloyds has also recently announced an extra £350m to cover mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) claims, while earlier this month it put aside £100m to cover compensation for victims of fraud by former HBOS staff.
Horta-Osorio said on unveiling the first quarter results that the group was determined that victims of the fraud would be “fairly, swiftly and appropriately compensated”.