Lloyds Bank eyes house price rally as first-quarter profit drops

Lloyds Banking Group’s (LLOY.L) pretax profit slid by 28 per cent in the first quarter, as rising costs, peaking interest rates and intensifying competition in the mortgage market hit income.

Britain’s largest mortgage lender reported first-quarter pretax profit of 1.6 billion pounds ($1.99 billion) on Wednesday, down from 2.3 billion a year ago, in line with expectations.

A robust housing market is key to Lloyds’ fortunes, and the lender forecasts house prices to rise by 1.5 per cent in 2024...