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This year's bank reporting season has been an unusually active one, with most major high street banks releasing restructuring plans, capital returns, impairment warnings or a combination of the three.

Lloyds Banking Group announced a £450m funding package related to the Financial Conduct Authority's investigation into the historic Motor Finance Commission, a 15% dividend increase and a £2bn share buyback plan this year. Pre-tax profits jumped 57% to £7.5bn, although this was partly due to a restatement of accounts for 2022 to reflect changes to IFRS17.

Edison Group managing director Rob Murphy said Lloyds' outlook “remains positive” and that “the company's share price looks undervalued relative to its global peers”. The bank did do enough during this period to win a vote of confidence from its chairman, City stalwart Sir Robin Budenberg. He bought 1 million shares at 45p each, paying a massive total payout of £455,000 once the trading window opened again. result.

Perhaps crucial to Budenberg's confidence, the charge on car commission claims will have little impact on the bank's core Tier 1 capital ratios, leaving dividends and capital expenditures unaffected. Some forecasts had predicted that the bank's CET1 ratio could fall to 12.5% ​​as a result of this regulatory entanglement. As things stand, Lloyds Bank's CET1 rate will drop to 13.5% this year.

Budenberg is also chairman of the Crown Estate and has had a successful career as an investment banker, becoming chairman of Lloyds Banking Corporation in early 2021. From 2010 to 2014, he was chief executive of UK Financial Investment Corporation, where he oversaw the government's post-event affairs. Investments in the banking sector, including Lloyds Bank, from 2008 until a return to full private ownership in 2017. Julian Hoffman

Barclays investment bankers sell off

Two of Barclays' top investment bankers sold a combined £4.4m of shares through agents after the bank's share price rose to a one-year high after the bank announced its annual results.

Global head of markets Adeel Khan sold more than £4m of shares through Barclays Nominee Services administrator Solium Capital UK last Monday. Meanwhile, Taylor Wright, global co-head of investment banking, sold £54,000 of shares through Solium Capital in two separate transactions last Tuesday, with a further move through agent broker Morgan Stanley US$428,000 (£338,000) worth of American depositary shares were sold.

An agency arrangement means the sale may be made as part of a collective investment strategy. Barclays declined to comment on the transactions.

Shares in Barclays have risen 15% since results were announced on February 20, when the bank revealed plans to pay £10bn in dividends and share buybacks over the next three years. The bank also announced a corporate restructuring that it hopes will save £2 billion by 2026. Shares in the bank hit 170p last week, their highest level since March last year.

The retail banking unit performed well last year, with a return on tangible equity of 19.2%, while the overall business returned 10.6%. Its chronically underperforming investment banking unit remains a drag, especially since its return on tangible equity was 8.4%.

The bank also recorded £25.4bn of contingent liabilities, including potential legal costs related to Barclays' advisory services agreement with Qatar Holding from 2008, various ongoing investigations into Libor manipulation and other legal challenges. Total contingent liabilities are up from £24.2 billion in 2022. Mitchell Rabiak