LONDON, March 17, 2026, 18:31 GMT
Lloyds Banking Group shares rose 1.37% to 96.20 pence on Tuesday, shrugging off fresh questions from British lawmakers over last week’s app glitch. The stock moved with a wider rally in UK lenders as investors headed into the Bank of England meeting later this week. 1
The move matters because traders still see Lloyds as a clear read-across from the UK rate outlook. J.P. Morgan pushed its forecast for the next BoE cut to the first quarter of 2027 on Tuesday, suggesting the market was leaning harder on the view that rates stay higher for longer than on the bank’s latest operational misstep. 2
The bid was sector-wide. UK bank stocks rose 1.3%, the biggest lift to the FTSE 100, and peers Barclays and NatWest had already raised their return on tangible equity goals in February. Return on tangible equity, or ROTE, is a bank measure of profit against the capital shareholders have tied up in the business. 3
Lloyds still faces questions of its own. Treasury Committee chair Meg Hillier wrote to Chief Executive Charlie Nunn seeking details on what caused the March 12 glitch, what personal information was exposed, how many customers were affected and whether compensation would be paid. 4
Lloyds apologised on March 12 and said there had been no issue with account security and no action was needed from customers. It has not disclosed the number of people affected. The episode lands as banks face broader scrutiny over digital resilience after nine major UK banks and building societies logged at least 803 hours of unplanned outages between January 2023 and February 2025. 4
Lloyds also disclosed more buyback activity. An RNS statement showed it bought back 8.94 million ordinary shares on March 17 at an average price of 96.5224 pence and plans to cancel them under the programme launched on January 29. 5
The bank came into this week with stronger guidance already in the market. In January it reported 2025 pretax profit of 6.7 billion pounds, up 12%, and lifted its 2026 ROTE target to more than 16%, with Nunn saying “our continued business momentum and strategic delivery enable us to upgrade guidance.” 6
Analysts had already been signalling that mood. Peter Rothwell, head of banking at KPMG UK, said the sector had seen “earnings resilience lasting longer than initially expected,” while Gary Greenwood of Shore Capital warned banks still faced “an expectation that they grow their loan books faster” to support the economy. 7
The risk is that the rates story flips from support to strain. J.P. Morgan also cut its 2026 UK growth forecast to 0.6% from 0.8% and raised its inflation view, while another live uncertainty still hangs over the sector in motor finance. Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority is due to lift its pause on handling those complaints on May 31, and Lloyds has already said the scandal will weigh on its 2025 results. 2
For now, the market is giving Lloyds some room. Even after Tuesday’s rise, the shares remain 16.06% below their 52-week high, and the next real test may be whether the BoE’s tone and Lloyds’ July strategy update keep investors backing the stock. 1
