and is the UK’s largest mortgage lender, and NatWest will report their half-year results on Thursday and Friday respectively.Lloyds is expected to report a pre-tax profit of £3.2bn for the first six months of the year, which would be about a fifth lower than the £3.9bn half-year profit it generated this time last year.But earnings started to retreat from 2023 highs at the start of this year as competition in the mortgage and savings market heated up.
The average two year fixed mortgage is 5.88 per cent while the average five year is 5.47 per cent, according to the latest data from Moneyfacts. Gary Greenwood, a research analyst for Shore Capital Markets, said the outlook is “perhaps more encouraging given improving UK economic sentiment and especially if base rates begin to fall” in the second half of the year.UK interest rates currently stand at 5.25 per cent, which they have been held at since August last year.
Meanwhile, NatWest is expected to report an operating pre-tax profit of £2.6bn for the six months to June, £1bn lower than the £3.6bn recorded this time last year.