There were no Barclays-style banana skins for Lloyds Banking Group, yet the country’s largest mortgage lender still can’t catch a break with investors.
Lloyds’ shares have been priced at a 26 per cent discount to their forecast tangible book value in 12 months’ time. True, that’s narrower than a yawning 61 per cent gap for Barclays and a touch better than the 32 per cent discount embedded in NatWest’s share price — but then Lloyds deserves to trade at a relative premium to its British peers.
Its third-quarter numbers did not disappoint. Adjusted pre-tax profits were up 22 per cent year-on-year to just over £2 billion, mainly thanks to much lower impairment charges. Only £187 million was set aside for potential bad debts, down
