Results round-up

First-quarter results from Lloyds Banking Group revealed a 6% fall in underlying profit to £2.05bn due to the sale of TSB, but this was largely better than forecast as a reduction in impairment charges, PPI provisions and lower costs counterbalanced a small decline in income.

A statutory profit before tax of £0.65bn for the three months to 31 March, down 46% on the same period last year, reflected the expected £0.79bn charge relating to the redemption of enhanced capital notes (ECNs).

Total income fell 1% to £4.38bn after a 3% increase in net interest income was blotted by a 7% decline in other income stemming from lower insurance income and continued pressure on fees and commissions that Lloyds said was a resilient performance in current market conditions. Management have guided to a similar run rate for the rest of the year, which is slightly weaker than analyst forecasts.

Lloyds left its full year guidance for 2.70% net interest margin unchanged after a further improvement in net interest margin to 2.74% in the period, which led to the increase in net interest income.

The improved margin more than offset the impact of a 2% reduction in average interest-earning banking assets, which was largely due to lower run-off assets.

The FTSE 100 bank said the improvement in net interest margin was due to improved deposit pricing and mix, lower wholesale funding costs and a benefit, as expected, from the recent ECN redemptions.

Lloyds maintained its strong balance sheet, with a CET1 ratio of 13.0% after a 0.4% impact of the ECNs redemption, while for the full year management still expect to generate around 2% of CET1 capital per year.

Advertising and public relations group WPP reported billings of £11.922bn in its first quarter on Thursday - an increase of 8.3%, or 6.7% at constant currencies.

The FTSE 100 firm said revenue in the four currencies it reports in went up 10.5% to £3.076bn, 4.6% to $4.402bn, 6.3% to €3.989bn, and 0.9% JPY 506.611bn.

Constant currency revenue grew 9.0%, while like-for-like revenue was ahead by 5.1%. Constant currency net sales - WPP’s preferred measure - was up 6.7%, while like-for-like net sales grew 3.2%.

“First quarter revenue, net sales and profit [was] well above budget and ahead of last year,” WPP’s board said in a statement.

Its constant currency net debt also grew, and was £701m higher on 31 March this year than it was on the same date in 2015. Average net debt in the first quarter was up by £767m over the same period a year earlier.

WPP put the large growth in net debt to strong acquisition activities, as well as its share buy-backs of £62m during the period, representing 3.9 million shares or 0.3% of issued share capital.