Lloyds reports strong start to year
Banking group Lloyds TSB today said it was on track to achieve profits growth of 10% or more in the first six months of this year.
In a half-year trading update, Lloyds said the improvement reflected sales growth throughout the business, alongside an ongoing efficiency drive.
Highlights from UK retail banking saw Lloyds increase its market share of new current account customers, as well as post a good performance in the savings and investment market. In mortgages, Lloyds said its position was in line with last year after it concentrated on the prime lending sector in order to safeguard against the threat of potentially higher default levels.
Lloyds said its overall asset quality remained satisfactory with the amount of money set aside for bad debts as a percentage of average lending likely to be lower than the first half of the previous year.
The first three months of the year also saw a quarter-on-quarter reduction in the level of bankruptcies and individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs).
It added: “The quality of new unsecured lending has continued to be strong and our arrears and delinquency trends have remained good.”
Today’s update led analysts to review their forecasts, with stockbroker Panmure Gordon raising its underlying pre-tax profits figure from £4.15bn (€6.1bn) to £4.35bn (€6.39bn). The company made £3.71bn (€5.45bn) in 2006, with £1.78bn (€2.61bn) reported at the half-year stage last year.
