Lloyds expects to beat lending profitability target

London

LLOYDS Banking Group plc, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, said it will exceed its lending profitability target after first-quarter earnings beat analyst estimates. The shares jumped the most in a year.

Pre-tax profit before one-time items rose 21 per cent to £2.2 billion (S$4.5 billion) from the year-earlier period, surpassing the £2 billion average estimate of six analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The bank said on Friday it expects its net interest margin to exceed its 2.55 per cent annual target.

The results bolster chief executive officer Antonio Horta-Osorio's efforts to return the bailed-out bank to full private ownership. Since taking over in 2011, he's cut assets, shrunk the retail network and eliminated thousands of jobs, allowing the lender to post its first annual pr…