Lloyds Banking Q1 Profit Climbs On Higher Net Interest Income; Backs View

(RTTNews) - Lloyds Banking Group plc (LLOY.L, LYG) reported Wednesday that its first-quarter statutory profit before tax climbed 23 percent to 1.60 billion pounds from last year's 1.30 billion pounds.

Profit for the period was 1.15 billion pounds, 27 percent higher than 890 million pounds a year earlier. Earnings per share climbed 36 percent to 1.5 pence from 1.1 pence a year ago.

Net income was 4.33 billion pounds, 4 percent higher than last year's 4.18 billion pounds.

Net interest income was 3.17 billion pounds, a growth of 8 percent from 2.93 billion pounds last year. Net interest margin was 2.93 percent. The company recorded strong start to the year with no change to the financial targets for 2018.

The company previously said it expects net interest margin to be around 290 basis points.