Lloyds Banking Group has reported third-quarter profits largely unchanged from a year ago, confounding initial expectations of a sharp squeeze on earnings caused by Britain’s surprise vote to quit the European Union.
Underlying pretax profits were £1.9 billion (Dh8.49bn), slightly under the £1.97bn booked in the corresponding period a year ago.
Total income for the quarter was £4.3bn, broadly in line with Q3 2015.
Britain’s largest retail bank also booked a fresh £1bn charge to compensate customers mis-sold loan insurance after the financial conduct authority pushed back the claims deadline by a year to mid-2019.
“The outlook for the UK economy remains uncertain, however the strength of the recovery in recent years means the UK is well positioned,” the bank said.
Lloyds also reported a £740 million deficit in its pension fund, which has been hit by falling bond yields in recent months.
Rescued in a £20.5bn taxpayer bail-out during the financial crisis, Lloyds is the first major British bank to report results that fully capture the period after the referendum results.
The chief executive Antonio Horta-Osório is searching for ways to prop up Lloyds’ dividend and profits against a more testing economic enviornment and the effects of lower-for-longer interest rates caused by the vote to leave the EU.
Since June’s referendum, shares in Lloyds have fallen by about a quarter, partly reflecting their heavy exposure to any downturn in the British economy.
Lloyds said total loans and advances to customers fell £1bn to £452bn compared with three months earlier.
* Reuters
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Picture of Joumblatt and Hariri breaking bread sets Twitter alight
Mr Joumblatt’s pessimism regarding the Lebanese political situation didn’t stop him from enjoying a cheerful dinner on Tuesday with several politicians including Mr Hariri.
Caretaker Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury tweeted a picture of the group sitting around a table at a discrete fish restaurant in Beirut’s upscale Sodeco area.
Mr Joumblatt told The National that the fish served at Kelly’s Fish lounge had been very good.
“They really enjoyed their time”, remembers the restaurant owner. “Mr Hariri was taking selfies with everybody”.
Mr Hariri and Mr Joumblatt often have dinner together to discuss recent political developments.
Mr Joumblatt was a close ally of Mr Hariri’s assassinated father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The pair were leading figures in the political grouping against the 15-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon that ended after mass protests in 2005 in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s murder. After the younger Hariri took over his father’s mantle in 2004, the relationship with Mr Joumblatt endured.
However, the pair have not always been so close. In the run-up to the election last year, Messrs Hariri and Joumblatt went months without speaking over an argument regarding the new proportional electoral law to be used for the first time. Mr Joumblatt worried that a proportional system, which Mr Hariri backed, would see the influence of his small sect diminished.
With so much of Lebanese politics agreed in late-night meetings behind closed doors, the media and pundits put significant weight on how regularly, where and with who senior politicians meet.
In the picture, alongside Messrs Khoury and Hariri were Mr Joumbatt and his wife Nora, PSP politician Wael Abou Faour and Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Nazih el Nagari.
The picture of the dinner led to a flurry of excitement on Twitter that it signified an imminent government formation. “God willing, white smoke will rise soon and Walid Beik [a nickname for Walid Joumblatt] will accept to give up the minister of industry”, one user replied to the tweet. “Blessings to you…We would like you to form a cabinet”, wrote another.
The next few days will be crucial in determining whether these wishes come true.
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