Lloyds Bank profits dip: Positive Money response

Hannah Dewhirst, Head of Campaigns at Positive Money, said: 

“With rate cuts on the horizon, banks like Lloyds will be looking for a new source of profits once they stop receiving huge windfalls from both customers and the Treasury alike. 

“It’s not surprising then, that Lloyds’ CEO was amongst the bank bosses who wrote to the Chancellor last week asking her to remove regulation introduced after the financial crash to protect customers’ deposits from banks’ riskier activities.

“The Chancellor must unequivocally reject proposals from banks to let them take more risks with our money. With financial markets still reeling from Trump’s tariff shocks, now is not the time to inject more uncertainty into the economy by deregulating the banks.”

Notes:

• Lloyds’ full announcement can be found here: https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/assets/pdfs/investors/financial-performance/lloyds-banking-group-plc/2025/q1/2025-lbg-q1-presentation.pdf 

• Last week, bank chiefs wrote to the Chancellor asking to remove post-crash ‘ring-fencing’ regulation that keeps customers’ deposits separate from banks’ riskier investments: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/top-british-bank-chiefs-urge-chancellor-scrap-ring-fencing-letter-sky-news-2025-04-26/ 

• Figures from the Bank of England show up to £150bn could be paid out from the Government by 2030 to cover losses from quantitative easing, much of which will be paid to banks in the form of interest on their risk-free reserves. This amounts to roughly £30 billion a year in transfers from the Treasury to the Bank of England over the next five years, according to the Bank’s latest projections: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/asset-purchase-facility/2024/2024-q4   

About Positive Money:

Positive Money is an international research and campaign organisation working to redesign our economic system for social justice and a liveable planet. Set up in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Positive Money is a not-for-profit company funded by charitable trusts and foundations, as well as small donations from its network of supporters. Find out more: www.positivemoney.org