LONDON - Lloyds Banking Group yesterday announced soaring annual profits as high interest rates benefitted the British lender and sector as a whole. Profit after tax jumped 46% to £4.9 billion (US$6.2 billion) last year compared with 2022, the British lender said in a statement.

“The group delivered a robust financial performance in 2023, meeting our guidance,” said chief executive Charlie Nunn.

“Income growth has been supported by a higher banking net interest margin, and good momentum in underlying other income. We continued to manage costs tightly, despite ongoing inflationary pressures,” he added.

Banks in the UK and elsewhere are gaining from higher interest rates as central banks, including the Bank of England, hiked borrowing costs substantially from late 2021 through to the second half of last year in a bid to cool soaring inflation

Retail lenders have in turn raised their own rates, benefitting savers, but also hugely increasing banks’ returns on loans such as mortgages. Nunn said Lloyds last year “remained focused on proactively supporting people and businesses through persistent cost-of-living pressures, whilst financing their ambitions and growth”. 

- Nampa/AFP