LONDON: Lloyds Banking Group Plc beat earnings expectations in the third quarter as the British bank’s borrowers coped better than expected with repayments.

Pre-tax profit fell 2% to £1.82bil (US$2.4bil), above a Bloomberg-compiled estimate of about £1.65bil.

The bank took £172mil in impairment charges for customers it fears could default, less than analysts had estimated, and the bank noted “resilient credit performance” during the three months through September.

Its loan book grew 1% in the quarter and now totals about £457bil.

“Our performance allows us confidently to reaffirm our 2024 guidance,” Charlie Nunn, the lender’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Lloyds’ net interest margin was 2.95%, down from 3.1% a year ago.

Like many lenders, it has structural hedges in place to reduce its sensitivity to interest rates, meaning its margins don’t feel the full impact of recent Bank of England rate cuts.

Still, the lender is facing intensifying mortgage competition, curbing how much it can make on new loans.

Lloyds, the biggest provider of car finance, made no extra provisions for an ongoing Financial Conduct Authority probe into whether borrowers were overcharged, having already set aside £450mil to pay for possible compensation. 

 - Bloomberg