Lloyds Regulatory News (LLOY)

Lloyds Banking Group plc

Q1 2020 Interim Management Statement

30 April 2020

RESULTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED 31 MARCH 2020

"The coronavirus pandemic presents an unprecedented social and economic challenge which is having a significant impact on people and businesses in the UK and around the world. The economic outlook is clearly challenging with the longer-term outcome dependent on the severity and length of the pandemic and the mitigating impact of Government and other measures in the UK and across the world. Throughout this period of uncertainty we will continue to work closely with Government, regulators and other authorities and use the strength of our balance sheet and business model to ensure that we play our part in supporting our customers and the UK economy.

I would like to pay tribute to the exemplary dedication being shown by all our colleagues across the Group providing vital banking services to those in need, but also in going above and beyond in countless and often unseen ways to support the most vulnerable."

António Horta-Osório, Group Chief Executive

INCOME STATEMENT − UNDERLYING BASIS

KEY BALANCE SHEET METRICS

QUARTERLY INFORMATION

BALANCE SHEET ANALYSIS

GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S STATEMENT

The coronavirus pandemic presents an unprecedented social and economic challenge which is having a significant impact on people and businesses in the UK and around the world. Our financial strength and business model enables us to play a significant role, together with Government, regulators and other authorities, in helping the country manage through this crisis supporting our customers and the UK economy. In our 250 years of serving the British economy we have experienced many downturns and several crises and on each occasion we have worked hard to contribute to the recovery of the economy. We expect to do exactly the same this time.

Ensuring an effective service is maintained to personal and business customers is fundamental and I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues across the Group, who have shown exemplary dedication and professionalism, often in response to near-impossible demands. I know that many of my colleagues will be anxious about the health of loved ones and the impact of coronavirus on their communities, but they nonetheless remain focused on serving our customers every day. I want to thank each of them for the remarkable contributions they are making to this national effort at work, at home and in their communities.

Support for customers and the real economy

Customers remain the priority for us through this crisis and we have implemented a comprehensive range of measures to support our retail and business customers. Across mortgages, personal and business loans, credit cards and motor financing, we have already approved 880,000 payment holidays, bringing relief at a time of financial uncertainty for so many.

For retail customers these include payment holidays on mortgages, loans, cards and motor, access to a £500 interest free overdraft, no fees for missed payments and access to fixed term accounts without charge. We have also launched a new dedicated phone line for elderly customers and developed a new process to allow a trusted person limited access to an account for customers who can't get to one of our branches and don't bank digitally, while we have also ensured that NHS staff calls are answered as a priority.

We have announced significant support for our small business and commercial customers. Small businesses and Corporates with less than £100 million annual turnover can benefit from our £2 billion COVID-19 fund which includes fee free lending for new overdrafts or overdraft limit increases and new or increased invoice discounting and finance facilities and in certain circumstances, capital repayment holidays. In addition we fully support the comprehensive range of support schemes introduced by the UK Government including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Schemes and the Covid Corporate Funding facility.

We will continue to work closely with Government and our regulators throughout the current period of uncertainty to enable personal and business customers get the support they need. Providing that support under the Government schemes does mean we have extended our lending risk appetite in this area during the crisis, and despite the protection offered by Government guarantees, there will inevitably be some additional losses in due course.

Operational resilience

I have been particularly pleased with how well the Group's operational and technology infrastructure has performed under significant pressure, enabling colleagues to support customers effectively through all channels and ultimately support the UK economy. Around 90 per cent of branches have remained open throughout the coronavirus outbreak and importantly, our digital banking proposition has remained fully operational throughout. Whilst we continue to experience high volumes of calls, we are continuing to improve our quality of service and are enabling more colleagues to operate remotely. I am grateful to our customers and colleagues for their collaboration.

GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S STATEMENT (continued)

Market commentary and economic projections

The economic outlook is clearly challenging and uncertain with the longer-term outcome dependent on the severity and length of the coronavirus pandemic and the mitigating impact of Government and other measures in the UK and across the world. Throughout this period of uncertainty we will continue to work closely with our customers, colleagues, regulators and the Government to ensure that we continue to support our customers. We remain committed to being part of the national solution and putting the Group's strength to work in support of the wider economy.

The success of the Group is inextricably linked to the health of the UK economy in both the longer term and the nearer term. The Group's financial performance in the first quarter is starting to reflect the emerging current and expected future impact of the crisis, with recent reductions in base rate and lower levels of activity having a significant impact on our business. On the other hand, implementation of various Government and regulatory measures including the new Term Funding Scheme and the lower countercyclical capital buffer, are helpful to enable the Group to increase lending in and support of the real economy.

In April we also announced the cancellation of dividends. Our decision on the outstanding 2019 dividend was taken by the Group's Board at the specific request of our regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and was in line with all other major UK listed banks. As per our news release, the Board also decided that until the end of 2020 we will undertake no quarterly or interim dividend payments, accrual of dividends, or share buybacks on ordinary shares in order to help us to serve the needs of businesses and households through the extraordinary challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.

These are difficult decisions and, while we recognise the disappointment and frustration this will cause our shareholders, in particular those relying on dividends for income, we agreed that this is a prudent and appropriate response to what are exceptional circumstances. The Board will decide on any future dividend distributions at year-end 2020.

In conjunction with this decision and in solidarity with the communities in which we operate, the whole of the Group Executive Committee have asked not to be considered for their Group Performance Share for 2020, meaning that they will give up all of their bonus entitlement for 2020. In addition no cash bonuses are payable to senior staff for the rest of 2020.

Strategic positioning and outlook

Over the last two years we have made significant progress against our ambitious strategy, while continuing to support our core purpose of Helping Britain Prosper. It is this purpose which helps to inform our response to coronavirus. We are using our multi-brand, multi-channel distribution model with the UK's largest branch network and digital bank along with the strategic capabilities developed to continue to support our customers through this challenging period.

As previously indicated given our clear UK focus we will inevitably be impacted by the nationwide lockdown relating to the coronavirus and given the significant change in the operating environment and economic expectations including much lower rates, lower levels of activity and higher impairments, the Group's previous guidance is no longer appropriate. Significant uncertainty remains and we will update the market once there is greater clarity.

We will be tested over the weeks and months ahead but I have great confidence in the resilience of our business model, the strength of our balance sheet and most importantly the professionalism and customer dedication of our staff. We will maintain our relentless focus on supporting customers and the UK economy going forward.

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE

Financial performance reflects revised economic outlook

Statutory profit before tax for the three months ended 31 March 2020 was £74 million, 95 per cent lower than in the first quarter of 2019, impacted by a significantly increased impairment charge. The increased impairment charge was significantly due to changes to the Group's IFRS 9 assumptions, given the expected deterioration in the UK economy as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Group's statutory return on tangible equity was 5.0 per cent.

In this challenging external environment the trading surplus for the period was solid at £1,988 million, a reduction of 19 per cent compared to the first three months of 2019, but an increase of 7 per cent on the final quarter of 2019 (decrease of 4 per cent excluding the bank levy). The year on year decrease was driven by a reduction in net income which was partially offset by lower total costs. Underlying profit was £558 million compared to £2,168 million in the first three months of 2019, impacted by the higher impairment charges in 2020. The Group's underlying return on tangible equity was 4.7 per cent.

Tangible net assets per share at 57.4 pence increased by 6.6 pence in the first three months of 2020, largely driven by an increase in the pension asset as credit spreads widened significantly in the quarter.

Net income

Net income of £3,952 million was 11 per cent lower than in the first three months of 2019, with both lower net interest income and lower other income, reflecting lower interest rates, competitive asset markets and the slowdown in retail and commercial markets in March following the coronavirus outbreak, as well as the non-recurrence of one off items recognised in the first quarter of 2019 and a write-down in the assets of Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) in 2020.

Net interest income of £2,950 million was down 4 per cent with reductions in both the banking net interest margin and average interest-earning banking assets. The net interest margin reduced by 12 basis points to 2.79 per cent, with continued pressure from competitive asset markets and reduced liability spreads. The net interest margin fell by 6 basis points over the last quarter, with the fourth quarter of 2019 benefiting from an alignment of credit card terms resulting from an effective interest rate change. Average interest-earning banking assets reduced by £1.8 billion year on year with growth in the open mortgage book and targeted segments, including UK motor finance, more than offset by lower balances in the closed mortgage book and the effects of the Commercial Banking portfolio optimisation.

In March, the Monetary Policy Committee cut the bank base rate twice, by a combined 65 basis points to 10 basis points, which together with mix changes in the balance sheet, will adversely impact the Group's margin in the coming quarters.

Other income decreased by 21 per cent to £1,226 million, as Insurance and Wealth was impacted by general insurance weather related claims in February and was also lower year on year due to the £136 million one-off benefit experienced in the first quarter of 2019 from the change in investment management provider. Commercial Banking other income was impacted by subdued levels of client activity given challenging external market conditions, particularly in large corporate markets. Other income in Retail included the continuing impact of a lower Lex fleet size and lower payments revenues in late March following the introduction of coronavirus-related restrictions. Market conditions have also impacted valuations in the Group's private equity business, LDC by c.£100 million. For comparative purposes, the Group's 2019 first quarter results included a gain of £50 million relating to the sale of the Group's interest in Vocalink.

The Group expects the impact of lower rates, changing balance sheet mix, fee forbearance and lower levels of customer activity to continue to affect net interest income and other income into the second quarter.

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE (continued)

Total costs

Total costs of £1,964 million were 1 per cent lower than in the first three months of 2019 with a reduction in operating costs more than offsetting increased remediation charges.

Operating costs of £1,877 million were 4 per cent lower, despite continued strategic investment and absorbing some emerging expenses related to the Group's response to the coronavirus outbreak. The Group saw a 6 per cent reduction in business as usual costs, driven by continued cost discipline and efficiencies gained through digitalisation and other process improvements. Remediation charges of £87 million were higher than the £20 million expensed in the first three months of 2019, and related to a number of existing programmes, including the Cranston review.

The Group's market-leading cost:income ratio of 49.7 per cent was higher than the first three months of 2019, having been impacted by lower net income in the period.

Market-leading efficiency continues to provide competitive advantage and the focus on cost discipline will continue. The Group will also ensure strategic investment is targeted appropriately to reflect the new operating environment. Operating costs will continue to fall in 2020 after absorbing additional coronavirus-related expenses.

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE (continued)

Impairment

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE (continued)

The impairment charge in the quarter increased significantly to £1,430 million, although the Group's loan portfolio remains robust and well positioned. Impairment provisions reflect the net impact of economic scenarios and Government support programmes with the increase on prior year primarily driven by updates to the Group's economic outlook following the coronavirus outbreak (£844 million charge, with further information in Note 3) and coronavirus impacts on existing restructuring cases (£218 million). Underlying credit quality remains robust, however increased underlying charges will inevitably arise from existing and new lending.

Although market dynamics are challenging a number of sectors and corporate customers within the Commercial book, particularly within the Business Support Unit, the corporate portfolio's diverse client base and limits are being proactively managed and have relatively low exposure to the most vulnerable sectors affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The Group's management of concentration risk includes single name and country limits as well as controls over the Group's overall exposure to certain higher risk and vulnerable sectors and asset classes.

The Group's outlook and IFRS 9 base case economic scenario used to calculate expected credit loss (ECL) has been updated since the year end through post model adjustments (further detail in Note 3). Reflecting these post model adjustments, which take into account the Group's best estimate of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the Group's customer and client base, an additional impairment charge of £844 million has been taken in the quarter. The Group's ECL allowance continues to reflect a probability-weighted view of future economic scenarios including a 30 per cent weighting of base case, upside and downside and a 10 per cent weighting of severe downside, although all scenarios have deteriorated significantly since the 2019 year end.

The Group's net asset quality ratio was 130 basis points in the quarter, compared with 25 basis points in the first three months of 2019, driven by increases in the ECL. The Group's ECL provision stock has increased by over £1 billion to £5.2 billion, further building balance sheet resilience.

Significant uncertainty remains. Although the existing book and new lending, including Government supported lending, will inevitably experience losses, partially offset by applicable Government guarantees, the extent of the impairment charge will depend on the severity and the duration of the economic shock experienced in the UK.

Statutory profit

Restructuring costs of £63 million were down 50 per cent compared to the first three months of 2019 mainly driven by the completion of the MBNA integration and lower severance costs relating to the Group's strategic investment plans. The latter was in part due to the deferral of redundancy programmes given the coronavirus pandemic.

Volatility and other items of £421 million included £387 million of negative insurance volatility, largely driven by falling equity markets and widening corporate bond credit spreads. The first three months of 2019 included the one-off charge for exiting the Standard Life Aberdeen investment management agreement.

No further provision has been taken for PPI in the first quarter. Good progress has been made with the review of PPI information requests received and the conversion rate remains low and consistent with the provision assumption of around 10 per cent, although operations have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks. The unutilised provision at 31 March 2020 was £1,018 million.

The Group recognised a tax credit of £406 million in the period, primarily as a result of lower statutory profits and an uplift in deferred tax assets following the announcement by the Government that it would maintain the corporation tax rate at 19 per cent, which was substantively enacted on 17 March 2020. This is consistent with guidance given at full year results.

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE (continued)

Balance sheet growth across business lines

Loans and advances increased £2.7 billion in the quarter to £443.1 billion (31 December 2019: £440.4 billion), with increased corporate lending, primarily drawdowns of existing corporate facilities, partially offset by expected reductions in the mortgage book along with reductions in credit cards, where customer activity reduced in March

Commercial Banking has continued to optimise its portfolio in challenging market conditions, maintaining a focus on risk-weighted asset reduction and addressing low risk-adjusted returning client relationships. However, balances across the Commercial Banking portfolio increased in the first quarter as clients drew down facilities in response to the coronavirus outbreak, although the pace of drawdowns has eased since the quarter end. Around 50 per cent of revolving credit facilities in Commercial Banking are now drawn, compared to just under 40 per cent at the start of the year, an increase in lending of £6 billion. The Group has low exposure to the most vulnerable sectors and is working closely with clients to support them through the crisis.

The Group continues to optimise funding and target current account balance growth, with Retail current accounts up 4 per cent over the last three months at £79.9 billion (31 December 2019: £76.9 billion) partly due to lower levels of customer spending. The Group's loan to deposit ratio has fallen 4 percentage points since year end to 103 per cent, largely due to increased deposits within Commercial Banking, in part reflecting increases in client drawdowns at the end of March.

Given the current environment the Group is granting payment holidays of up to three months across a range of retail products and as at 24 April 2020, c.400,000 mortgage payment holidays had been granted. The average LTV of these payment holiday balances is 50 per cent, compared to the total book average LTV of 44 per cent. In addition, payment holidays have also been granted across all consumer finance and unsecured products including c.85,000 in motor finance, c.175,000 in personal loans and c.220,000 on credit cards. Within the corporate sector, the Group has supported £410 million in CBILS loans to SMEs and increased support for business clients through the Group's £2 billion COVID-19 fund, offering c.37,000 fee-free overdrafts, capital repayment holidays and working capital increases to clients. The Group has also introduced payments holidays and simplified claims processing for Insurance customers.

The Group continues to recognise interest income for the duration of payment holidays and in the absence of other credit risk indicators, the granting of a coronavirus-related payment holiday does not result in a transfer between stages for the purposes of IFRS 9. 

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE (continued)

Support measures in place as at 24 April 2020

Funding and liquidity

The Group has maintained its strong funding and liquidity position with a stable liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) of 138 per cent. In addition to its sizable liquid asset buffer averaging £132 billion over the last 12 months, the Group has a significant amount of pre-positioned collateral eligible for use in a range of central bank facilities, including the Bank of England's Contingent Term Repo Facility and the Term Funding Scheme, with additional incentives for SMEs, both recently made available in response to the pandemic.

The Group is committed to supporting its customers in financial distress and with increased liquidity needs during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Group continues to access wholesale funding markets across currencies and investors to maintain a stable and diverse source of funds. Despite more challenging funding conditions, with a widening in credit spreads, the Group has seen strong demand in a number of public issuances, and completed c.£3.5 billion of funding in the first quarter of 2020 and c.£6.9 billion of funding year to date, including issuance in early April, across the Group.

The Group's credit ratings continue to reflect its robust balance sheet, solid underlying profitability and bail-in capital position. In March, Fitch revised the outlooks on all the Group's rated entities, alongside the majority of other UK banks, to Negative, citing concerns around the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, Fitch upgraded the Senior Unsecured rating of Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets to A+. In April, S&P revised the outlook on the Group's banking entities, alongside the majority of other large UK banks, to Negative, citing the potential earnings pressures arising from the economic and market impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The Negative outlooks that Moody's assigned on Lloyds Banking Group plc and Lloyds Bank plc (due to concern relating to the UK's exit from the European Union) remain in place.

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE (continued)

Capital management

The Group's CET1 capital ratio increased by 45 basis points to 14.2 per cent post reversal of the final 2019 dividend. A summary of the CET1 capital build is set out in the table below.

The Group's underlying capital build before impairment charge of 56 basis points was offset by the impairment charge in the quarter.

Risk-weighted assets have increased by £5.3 billion as a result of the full implementation of the new securitisation framework (£2.3 billion); foreign currency impacts (c.£1 billion); Counterparty credit risk and credit valuation adjustments (c.£1 billion); and retail increases (c.£1 billion). Optimisation activity undertaken in Commercial Banking prior to the coronavirus pandemic has been largely offset by drawdowns by corporate customers towards the end of the quarter. Going forward, risk-weighted assets will continue to be affected by credit migration and any potential increases in the balance sheet.

Following the decision by the PRA to reduce the UK countercyclical capital buffer rate to zero, the Group's headroom over regulatory requirements has increased.

The transitional total capital ratio increased to 21.9 per cent (31 December 2019: 21.5 per cent on a pro forma basis) and the Group's transitional minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), which came into force on 1 January 2020, is 34.5 per cent (31 December 2019: 32.6 per cent on a pro forma basis). The UK leverage ratio increased to 5.3 per cent.

Tangible net assets per share at 57.4 pence increased by 6.6 pence in the first three months of 2020, largely driven by an increase in the pension net asset as credit spreads widened significantly in the quarter. Since the period end credit spreads have started to narrow, reversing some of the impact on the pension surplus and the volatility charge. 

REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE (continued)

Dividend

On 31 March, the Group also announced the cancellation of its ordinary dividends. The decision on the final 2019 ordinary dividend was taken by the Board at the specific request of the regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and was in line with all other major UK listed banks. The Board also decided that until the end of 2020 the Group will undertake no quarterly or interim dividend payments, accrual of dividends, or share buybacks on ordinary shares. This will help the Group to further serve the needs of businesses and households through the extraordinary challenges presented by the coronavirus crisis.

These are difficult decisions and while the Group recognises the disappointment and frustration this will cause shareholders, in particular those relying on dividends for income, this is a prudent and appropriate response to exceptional circumstances. The Board will decide on any future dividend distributions at year end 2020.

Outlook

Given the Group's clear UK focus, its performance is inextricably linked to the health of the UK economy and the Group will inevitably be impacted by the nationwide lockdown related to coronavirus which has already started to have a significant impact on the UK economy.

The longer-term financial impact of coronavirus is not yet clear and given the significant change in the operating environment and economic expectations, the Group's previous guidance is no longer appropriate. The impact of lower rates and lower levels of activity on the Group's business will continue into the second quarter, but remains difficult to quantify given the significant uncertainty. We expect the Group will also experience further impairments, both in existing and new lending books, particularly if economic expectations deteriorate further from the base case. The Group will update the market once there is greater clarity of the impact of coronavirus on the UK economy and any actions that the Group can take to mitigate them.

Throughout the coming months, the Group will work with its customers, colleagues, regulators and the Government to ensure that it continues to support its customers and delivers on its core purpose of Helping Britain Prosper.

The Group is learning from the crisis. Going forward the Group will further enhance customer service to ensure it continues to offer leading propositions in the new operating environment, increasingly tailor its product range to meet customers' evolving post-crisis needs and further build cost advantage through new ways of working.

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

1. Banking net interest margin and average interest-earning banking assets

2. Return on tangible equity

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION (continued)

3. Further impairment detail

The key UK economic assumptions made by the Group, averaged over a five-year period, used to calibrate the impairment overlay in the first quarter are shown below:

Scenarios by year:

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION (continued)

The following table shows the extent to which a higher ECL allowance has been recognised to take account of forward looking information from the weighted multiple economic scenarios. The Group's probability-weighted ECL allowance continues to reflect a 30 per cent weighting of base case, upside and downside and a 10 per cent weighting of severe downside.