Lloyds Q1 profit falls; Reckitt on track for FY targets

Stocks to watch

Lloyds Bank held annual guidance despite a 28% fall in first-quarter profits due to lower net interest income and higher operating expenses, partially offset by a lower impairment charge. The group's profit before tax for the first three months of 2024 was £1.63bn.

Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser said that it was on track to deliver its full-year revenue and profit targets as it posted a rise in first-quarter like-for-like net sales. In an update for the three months to the end of March, the Dettol and Lysol maker said LFL net revenue grew 1.5%, with a volume decline of 0.5% and price/mix growth of 2%.

Newspaper round-up

UK banks are leaving themselves open to “severe, unexpected losses”, by failing to properly measure how exposed they are to the $8tn private equity industry, the Bank of England has warned. In a speech on Tuesday, Rebecca Jackson, a senior executive at the central bank, said there was a “creeping sense of complacency” among lenders, who – despite a boom in loans and financing to the sector – had almost no ability to put together data “or even appreciate its crucial importance”. – Guardian

The Senate voted Tuesday to pass a bill that will either ban TikTok or force a sale of the short-form video app, giving its China-based parent company ByteDance up to one year to divest its crown jewel before facing deletion from US app stores. The vote was a landslide, with 79 senators voting in favor and 18 against. The bill passed in the House on Saturday by a margin of 360 to 58, as part of a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. It will now make its way to the desk of Joe Biden, who has previously said he would sign the legislation. – Guardian

Tesla is speeding up plans for a range of cheaper cars as Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker attempts to take on a wave of cut-price Chinese manufacturers. The company said it would “accelerate the launch of new models… including more affordable models” with production starting next year. Tesla’s shares rose by more than 5pc in after-hours trading despite the company reporting its biggest drop in sales in more than a decade. – Telegraph

KPMG, the Big Four accounting firm, is to start hiring more ex-offenders after a “very positive” two-year trial. The move by one of Britain’s largest employers is a major boost for the government, which is trying to encourage more big businesses to recruit prison leavers to help cut reoffending, which costs an estimated £18 billion a year. – The Times

The new chief executive of AG Barr is to receive a £130,000 relocation package to help him buy a property in Scotland. The soft drinks firm said that Euan Sutherland, who is Scottish, would get the lump sum as part of his joining package when he officially takes over on May 1. He and his family live in Surrey but the new role will see him splitting time between London and Scotland. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Tuesday as corporate earnings began to roll in from a number of the nation's biggest firms.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.69% at 38,503.69, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.20% to 5,070.55, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.59% firmer at 15,696.64.