Lloyds Banking Q1 Net Profit Declines

reported a drop in its net profit for the first three months of the year, hit by a pretax charge related to sale of its TSB Banking Group unit. Lloyds Banking posted a quarterly net profit of GBP913 million ($1.4 billion), versus a year-ago profit of GBP1.1 billion. Its underlying profit rose 21 percent to GBP2.2 billion. Net interest income gained 7 percent to £3.02 billion, compared to £2.81 billion in the year-ago period. Profit before tax slipped to 1.214 billion pounds, versus 1.369 billion pounds. Its total income net of insurance claims slipped to GBP4.5 billion from GBP4.6 billion. For the year, the bank now projects net interest margin to exceed original forecast of about 2.55 percent. António Horta-Osório, CEO, said, "We have made a strong start to the next phase of our strategy to become the best bank for customers and shareholders, as we continue to support and benefit from UK economic growth." Lloyds Banking shares gained 2.10 percent to $4.87 in pre-market trading.