Lloyds Group sees profits skyrocket in months following MBNA acquisition

Lloyds Banking Group plc has seen its profits and revenues soar since its eight-figure takeover of credit card company MBNA.

The bank pulled in a pre-tax profit of £1.95bn in the three months to September 30, a year-on-year increase of 141%.

Lloyds’ total income for the period grew 8% to £4.62bn – a figure helped along with a £186m contribution from Chester-based MBNA, which Lloyds acquired from Bank of America earlier this year.

Q3 operating costs were up 4% or £69m, at just over £2bn. Lloyds said the rise is entirely due to operational costs at MBNA, without which the figure would have shown a £9m decrease.

António Horta-Osório, the bank’s group chief executive, said: “These results highlight the strength of our customer focused, simple and low risk business model and the benefits of our competitive advantage in the UK.

“Asset quality remains strong, reflecting our prudent approach to risk, while the UK economy remains resilient.”

He continued: “We continue to focus on supporting people, businesses and communities, as set out in our Helping Britain Prosper Plan while making good progress against our strategic priorities of creating the best customer experience; becoming simpler and more efficient; and delivering sustainable growth.”

Of the MBNA acquisition, he added: “We are ahead of schedule with the integration of MBNA and now expect completion in the first quarter of 2019.”