Lloyds Banking Group has reported higher than expected quarterly profit and raised full-year guidance on the back of rising interest rates, but warned that soaring inflation remained a risk.
The UK’s largest mortgage lender said pre-tax profit in the three months to the end of June edged up to £2.04bn from £2.01bn a year earlier, beating analyst estimates of £1.6bn.
Rising interest rates and an increase in its mortgage balance boosted Lloyd’s revenues by a tenth to £4.3bn.
The Bank of England has raised rates to 1.25 per cent as it tries to grapple with the soaring cost of living, with inflation reaching a four-decade high at 9.4 per cent.
With more rate rises on the cards, Lloyds said the economic outlook had prompted it to improve its profit guidance for the year. Higher rates should boost its net interest margin — the difference between what it pays for deposits and what it earns from lending.
Shares in Lloyds rose 4 per cent in morning trading to 45p following the improved outlook for profit.
However, chief executive Charlie Nunn sounded caution over inflation and the repercussions for customers.
Although Lloyds said it was yet to see major difficulties in its loan portfolio, Nunn warned that the “persistency and potential impact of higher inflation remains a source of uncertainty for the UK economy”, noting that many consumers will be battling cost of living pressures.
The lender took a £200mn impairment charge in the second quarter for potential bad debt. A year ago, it released £374mn in provisions for the coronavirus pandemic.
William Chalmers, Lloyds’ chief financial officer, said impairments were at “historically very low levels” and that “early warning indicators [for credit problems] remain very benign”.
Lloyd’s mortgage balance increased 2 per cent year on year to £296.6bn, while credit card spending rose 7 per cent to £14.5bn.
Ian Gordon, analyst at Investec, said the bank’s results “crushed” analysts’ estimates, triggering “material” upgrades to its full-year profit guidance. Lloyds now expects net interest margin for the year to be greater than 280 basis points, up 10 points from the estimate it gave in April.
Lloyds also expects return on tangible equity — another measure of profitability — to be about 13 per cent, rather than the 11 per cent it had expected previously.
Nunn has sought to drive a £4bn growth strategy at the lender, targeting areas including wealth management and its investment bank after years of retrenchment under former chief executive António Horta-Osório.
In June, two of Lloyds’ most senior retail bankers departed as the high street lender seeks to restructure its business. New areas of focus include an “embedded finance” division which will offer payment options for customers shopping online.
Lloyds also announced an interim dividend of 0.8p a share, up about 20 per cent on 2021.