Balance sheet growth, assets under management, and efficiency ratios will all come under scrutiny, as Lloyds balances the need to support credit growth with maintaining solid credit quality.
The bank’s strategic narrative – emphasising digital transformation, simplification, customer outcomes, and cost leverage – will be tested against the operational realities of UK banking.
Motor finance provision creates headline drag
Lloyds recently announced it will incur an additional provision of £800 million in relation to the UK motor finance mis-selling scandal, bringing its total reserve for this liability to approximately £1.95 billion.
The expansion of this charge reflects emerging exposure tied to undisclosed commission practices in car loans and compensation demands under the FCA’s redress framework.
This substantial charge introduces a material risk and headline drag that could offset some of the positive momentum from underlying operational performance.
The ultimate scale of motor finance liabilities remains uncertain, creating ongoing overhang for investor sentiment despite improved operational metrics.
Strategic portfolio moves reshape business
Meanwhile, in a significant portfolio move, Lloyds has acquired full control of the wealth joint venture: Schroders has sold its 49.9% stake in Schroders Personal Wealth (SPW) to Lloyds.
In return, Schroders reclaimed Lloyds’ 19.1% interest in Cazenove Capital, marking Lloyds’ intention to take a more direct role in wealth management operations.
On the branch network front, Lloyds continues paring its physical footprint. Just in the past month, it announced closures of 49 additional branches across Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland brands.
This will bring the total number of closures between 2025 and the end of 2026 to nearly 350, aligning with its broader push toward digital banking.
Digital transformation accelerates
Lloyds has also advanced its digital and fintech ambitions. Earlier in 2025, it unveiled Athena, a generative AI-powered knowledge hub designed to support customer service colleagues.
The bank has also engaged in partnerships around digital assets and tokenised real-world asset (RWA) collateral frameworks, in collaboration with Aberdeen Investments and Archax.
These moves signal Lloyds’ intention to lean into technology and innovation as key differentiators going forward in an increasingly digital banking landscape.
On the mortgage front, Lloyds pledged £4 billion in additional lending capacity to support first-time buyers, in the wake of recent regulatory and policy changes.
Lloyds share price technical analysis
On the monthly candlestick chart the Lloyds share price’s advance has so far been thwarted by the 86.88p-to-89.34p resistance area, made up of the 2014-to-2015 peaks.