Depositors chasing higher interest rates and competition for mortgages are expected to have caused profits to have fallen at three of Britain’s biggest banks.
Quarterly figures next week from Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and NatWest are set to show that their margins came under pressure during the first three months of the year as the boost the banks enjoyed from rising rates in 2023 faded.
Moves by an increasing number of savers to shift their cash to accounts that pay better interest have dragged on margins, as have steps by lenders to improve the rates they pay to depositors amid political and regulatory pressure last year.
Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest will give updates on their figures on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
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More intense competition in the mortgage market in recent months compared with the first quarter of last year also