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Lloyds Banking Group reports a robust underlying performance with strong improvement in statutory profit for the first nine month of the year.

Underlying profit was £6.1 billion (2015: £6.4 billion) with an underlying return on required equity of 13.6%. Total income was £13.2 billion

Net interest income rose by 1% to £8.6 billion, with improved margin of 2.72 per cent - Other income was 2% lower at £4.5 billion

Other highlights:
- Operating costs 2 per cent lower at £6.0 billion. Market-leading cost:income ratio improved to 47.7 per cent with positive operating jaws

- Asset quality remains strong with no deterioration in underlying portfolios. Asset quality ratio of 14 basis points

- PPI provision of £1 billion to cover further operating costs and redress

- Statutory profit before tax of £3.3 billion, more than 50 per cent higher than in 2015

- Tangible net assets per share of 54.9 pence post interim dividend (30 June 2016: 55.0 pence)

Group chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said: "We remain focused on delivering on our targets to support people, businesses and communities as set out in our Helping Britain Prosper Plan. We are making good progress against our strategic priorities: creating the best customer experience; becoming simpler and more efficient; and delivering sustainable growth.

"In the last 12 months we have grown net lending to SMEs by 4 per cent and have also grown net lending in both credit card balances and motor finance while continuing to grow our bulk annuity business.

"We remain committed to helping first-time buyers onto the housing ladder whilst continuing to balance risk and margin considerations versus volume in mortgages. We also continue to operate the UK's largest branch network and the largest digital bank with 12.4 million online users and 7.8 million mobile users of our top-rated apps.

"The hard work undertaken in the last five years to transform and simplify the business has allowed the UK government to sell most of its stake in the Group, returning £17 billion including dividends on its original £20 billion investment. We welcome the recent decision to recommence the sale of its shares."

He added: "The outlook for the UK economy remains uncertain, however the strength of the recovery in recent years means the UK is well positioned. The Group's transformation and successful execution of strategy, along with its competitive advantages in costs and risk, also position us well for the future and to achieve our goal of becoming the best bank for customers and shareholders."

After being 2p down after the results this morning, is now up 0.37p

yes buy buy buy a gift

Bulls back Lloyds despite PPI hit - By Lee Wild | Wed, 26th October 2016 - 12:36

Bulls back Lloyds despite PPI hit Q3 results UK retail bank cost cuts Robbed of the chance to buy the government's remaining stake in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) at a discount, shareholders now depend on under-pressure CEO António Horta-Osório to generate returns. Admittedly, initial reaction to third-quarter results was poor, but the numbers weren't really that bad and Lloyds has clawed back a near-4% slump.
Using latest forecasts from Deutsche Bank, the results were mixed, but hardly scary. A 3% drop in underlying pre-tax profit from £1.97 billion a year ago to £1.91 billion, was a little light. Deutsche had predicted £2.07 billion.

The broker got a £1 billion provision for payment protection insurance (PPI) spot on, yet statutory pre-tax profit was also down a smaller-than-feared 15% to £811 million. Net interest margin (NIM) - the difference between interest earned and interest paid - was a fraction better at 269 basis points (bp).

Despite being a UK-focused bank, Lloyds could struggle in the fallout of a "hard" BrexitHowever, earnings expectations have been revised upwards in recent weeks amid some high-profile calls among analysts to switch from "expensive defensives" into banks and other value plays.

"On valuation both banks and insurance companies are near the cheapest levels they have ever been in two decades," said Barclays on Tuesday, highlighting Lloyds as a value stock with earnings momentum better than the market.

And the lender does reaffirm expectations for the full-year. Look for NIM of around 270bp, a cost:income ratio below last year's 49.3%, and common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital generation - a key measure of financial strength - of 160bp pre-dividend. CET1 for the third quarter was 14.1% before the dividend and 13.4% after, up from 13% in June.

UBS analyst and Lloyds fan, Jason Napier, was quick off the mark Wednesday morning, and the numbers are there or thereabouts. Underlying profit was 2% ahead of his own estimate as better news on costs and lower-than-expected impairment charges offset a 1% drop in net interest income (NII) to £2.85 billion.

Margin was better, too, driven, says Napier, by a 1% drop in average interest-earning banking assets to £436 billion.

Interestingly, Lloyds generated an 80bp improvement in CET1 by deciding to reclassify the £20 billion of gilts held within its liquidity portfolio as "available-for-sale" rather than Wheld-to-maturity". That's because it will not now commit to holding gilts to maturity as interest rates are so low.

Without this, capital would have been a miss at 12.6%, points out Deutsche's Lock. However, "a beat is a beat", he says, adding, "13.4% CET1 should provide Lloyds the headroom to pay the 3p dividend that we and consensus expect for 2016 (requires 20-30bps capital generation in 4Q16), giving comfort for those focused on the dividend line."

On costs, Horta-Osório has made further progress. Shutting branches and penny-pinching elsewhere - the so-called simplification programme - has delivered £774 million of annual run-rate savings so far. It should be £1.4 billion by the end of 2017.

At around 55p, Lloyds shares trade pretty much in line with tangible net asset value (TNAV) of 54.9pOf course, low interest rates are bad for banks, and there's little sign that UK borrowing costs will increase up any time soon.

Despite being a UK-focused bank, Lloyds could struggle in the fallout of a "hard" Brexit, and a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to extend the deadline for PPI claims by a year to June 2019 has triggered extra provisions.

However, finance director George Culmer has said this will be "the last big PPI provision" before deadline day.

At around 55p, Lloyds shares trade pretty much in line with tangible net asset value (TNAV) of 54.9p. Using UBS estimates for full-year earnings per share (EPS) of 6p in 2017, down from an anticipated 7.2p this year, a forward price/earnings (PE) ratio of 9.2 times is hardly expensive.

Napier blames pressure on revenue and loan losses coming through for the drop in EPS next year. But he likes the opportunity for "proactive management of the P&L" offered by better costs and deposit re-pricing. "Crucially, capital generation - the raw material for our positive view on dividends - remains good," he says.

Add a 13% return on tangible equity (ROTE) into the mix, plus 5-7% running yield, and Napier still thinks Lloyds is "attractively valued". He repeats his 'buy' rating and 65p price target, and above-consensus forecast for a dividend yield above 7% for 2017.

Her Majesty's Treasury < 9%

Barclays Capital Equal weight 55.25 65.00 55.00 Reiterates

JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 56.02 62.00 62.00 Reiterates

Natixis Neutral 56.02 56.00 56.00 Retains

I looks like the Government is in need of money selling at this low price

Before - 7,057,718,792 Shares - 9.8883%
NOW 6,422,964,302 Shares - 8.99905%

I make that around £355m........which won't pay for much in central London.
(their last divi payment should have been around £59m according to my calculations.The divi before that was about £141m.)

Moving with the market so far today

-

But where is the market going????

re - But where is the market going????

The same as LLOY

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - European bank stocks are poised to end October posting their best monthly gains since February last year as cheap valuations, strong results and prospects of higher bond yields spurred investor interest in the beaten-down sector.

Banks are Europe's best performing sector this month with a 9 percent gain, handily beating the broader market's 1 percent decline.

This month's rally stands in contrast to the prevailing mood on banks at the end of September, when shares of Deutsche Bank fell to an all-time low on the back of fears of a $14 billion fine from U.S. authorities while fears over bad debts clouded the outlook for Italian banks.

Those fears added to long-standing worries over banks' profitability given a weak regional economy, the potential fallout of Britain's vote to leave the European Union and as the slide to record lows for bond yields weighed on margins.

After losing more than a quarter of their value in the year to end-September and with valuations near euro zone crisis lows of about 0.6 times book value, however, some investors questioned whether the selloff was overdone.

A pick up in bond yields, broker optimism and a relatively healthy set of third-quarter results, which included a surprise profit at Deutsche Bank, has brightened the case for financials.

"Banks remain the best hedge against rising yields," strategists at JP Morgan said in a note, recommending switching in to cheaply valued financials from expensive areas such as consumer staples and tech.

Close the position a couple minutes before close @ 57.26p yesterday
All the ranges were at top so ready for retracement ( Bollinger, RSI and Stochastic )

just over 4p profit or 7.63% in 3 weeks

55.65p - 0.59p

glad I sold as banks are moving lower

Lloyds Banking makes dividend Top 10 - By Stockopedia and Ben Hobson | 9th November 2016 The falling value of the pound this year has had a big impact on the stock market. On one hand, the outlook for some domestic stocks and sectors has turned uncertain. But for others with exposure to foreign markets and currencies, these conditions are ideal.

One of the immediate positive results is that dividends rose strongly in the autumn - but not all sectors did well. So where are the most promising parts of the market for dividend hunters now?

According to new figures from Capita, dividends from UK stocks rose by 1.6% to £24.9 billion between August and October. Strip out the impact of special dividends, and the rise was 2.6% to £23.9 billion.

Crucially, there was a huge £2.5 billion currency gain during the quarter. That was caused by the large dollar- and euro-denominated dividends from the likes of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB), HSBC (HSBA) and Unilever (ULVR) being translated at much more favourable rates to sterling.

But under the surface, there were areas of concern. For a start, stocks in the mining sector were responsible for most of the £2.2 billion of payout cuts during the autumn. And, more generally, despite the overall rise in dividends, average payouts fell slightly in third-quarter on the same period last year.

Sectors and indices leading the dividend charge

On a sector basis, the most immediate beneficiaries of a weaker pound have been oil & gas, beverages, pharmaceuticals, banks and mining. The main sources of dividend growth have been telecoms, media, travel and insurance.

Mid-cap profits have outperformed, meaning these companies are growing dividends fasterIn terms of indices, almost all the dividend cuts seen in the third quarter were in the FTSE 100. But the blue-chips also enjoyed most of the foreign currency gains.

By contrast, the FTSE 250 saw the fastest dividend growth. That was up 4.9% on the same period last year, at £2.7 billion. Strip out special dividends, and underlying growth was 11.5%.

According to Capita, FTSE 250 stocks have been well insulated from the trends that have caused so much trouble in the FTSE 100 (UKX) (such as low commodity and oil prices, and industry pressures in banking and supermarkets). As a result, mid-cap profits have outperformed, meaning that these companies are growing their dividends consistently faster.

Screening the market for dividend payers

With these trends in mind, we created a dividend screen for Interactive Investor looking for high forecast yields in the most promising sectors. Apart from high yield, it looks for dividends that are growing and are well covered by earnings from companies with robust balance sheets.

It also considers the scale of each company's pension deficit as well as the valuation of the shares.

Name	Forecast Yield %	Forecast Dividend Cover	DPS Growth %, Last Year	Pension Dfct / Mkt Cap %	Value Rank
Lloyds Banking	6.4	1.9	200	0.91	63
Aviva	6.0	2.1	14.9	-	93
Stagecoach	5.9	2.0	8.6	10.5	82
ITV	5.6	1.8	27.7	2.62	60
Go-Ahead	4.8	1.9	6.5	0.29	84
Saga	4.7	1.6	75.6	1.41	54
easyJet	4.6	2.0	21.6	-	91
BT	4.5	1.9	12.9	17.7	68
Paragon of Companies	4.3	2.8	22.2	2.33	78
Sky	4.3	1.6	2.1	-	56

In terms of yield, the leading stock on the list is Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), which hiked its dividend last year and now has a forecast yield of 6.4%. It is followed by the insurance group Aviva (AV.), on 6.0%, which has a more attractive Value Rank of 93/100.

In many cases, the prices of stocks on the list have come under pressure since the summer. Generally speaking, the cheapest stocks are in the transport sector, including Stagecoach (SGC), Go-Ahead (GOG) and easyJet (EZJ).

But it's worth noting that Stagecoach and BT (BT.A) have considerable pension deficits. That may not be a problem now, but low bond yields are causing concern when it comes to pensions deficits.

Interesting times for dividend hunters

Exchange rates have had a big impact on the landscape for dividends this year. It's early days, but Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election could impact on the value of the dollar, which means that dividend hunters should take note.

Either way, it's likely that dividend shares will continue to hold the attention of investors. The devaluation of sterling has been a welcome boost in the FTSE 100 and dividend growth among FTSE 250 companies is encouraging.

While the stock market dislikes uncertainty, there are signs that the current conditions still offer interesting options for income investors.

Is Lloyds about to head for pre-Brexit levels? - By Alistair Strang | Tue, 15th November 2016 - 09:27

Is Lloyds about to head for pre-Brexit levels? technical analysis trends targets We've tried to pretend the banking sector doesn't interest us this month but, thankfully, Lloyds (LLOY) appears on the verge of becoming interesting. If the share would simply manage to close a session above 61p, near-term movement toward 64.5p looks very likely, along with a challenge of the downtrend since 2015.
At this point, quite a strong argument favours anything above 64.5p heading toward 75p and the potential of a glass ceiling (shown in 'pink') at roughly 73.62p.

As the 'pink' line illustrates, there's a fair congregation of highs around this level and our aggregate calculation at 73.62p suggests closure above this point will favour Lloyds with some proper long-term potentials.

Initially 86p makes sense but realistically 100p is being shown as the ruling long term attraction.



So, only two hurdles ahead for Lloyds. Firstly, it needs to get above the 'blue' downtrend, then it needs close above the 'pink' glass ceiling. How hard can it be?

If trouble is planned, Lloyds now has a shark in the water below 48.5p. Anything capable of provoking reversal below such a point would be extremely bad, as it could easily lose a third of its value.

We're forced to mention this due to the presence of a near-term 'red' uptrend.

This currently suggests any weakness below 54.5p risks a visit to 52p initially with secondary, if broken, at 49p, frighteningly close to an uptrend since 2012 (shown with invisible ink).

We're mentioning this, 'cos we obviously must look at both sides of the coin. However, Lloyds has recently been making some positive movement and hopefully we're about to witness an attempt to cover the Brexit manipulation gap at 72p.

Reuters - Britain has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) to just below 8 percent in a renewed attempt to return the lender to full private ownership over the next year.

Lloyds said in a statement on Tuesday the government had reduced its stake in the bank by about 1 percentage point to 7.99 percent.

UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI), which manages the government's stake in the bailed-out bank, last month resumed share sales that were shelved almost a year ago because of market turbulence.

"Today's announcement shows the further progress made in returning Lloyds Banking Group to full private ownership and enabling the taxpayer to get their money back," the bank said in a statement.

Lloyds was rescued with a 20.5 billion pound taxpayer-funded bailout during the 2007-09 financial crisis, leaving the state holding 43 percent.

British finance minister Philip Hammond is under pressure to recoup cash from the government's stake in Lloyds and fellow bailed-out bank Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) to relieve a likely shortfall in the nation's finances.

The UK has recouped over 17 billion pounds of taxpayer cash after it began selling off its stake in 2013.

Goldman Sachs today reaffirms its sell investment rating on Lloyds Banking Group PLC ORD (LON:LLOY) and raised its price target to 52p (from 50p).

Is that old news or they on drugs. Sell and raise sp. ...... to 52p when it's already over...... don't understand.