Lloyds Banking Group reported a dip in first-half profits on Wednesday

But upgraded guidance for its performance for the year boosted by rapidly rising interest rates

Britain’s biggest domestic bank reported pre-tax profits of 3.7 billion pounds for the six months to June

It goes down from 3.9 billion pounds the prior year, but above the 3.2 billion pounds average of analyst forecasts compiled by the bank

Lloyds was dented by a 377 million pound impairment charge, prompted by the worsening economic outlook, compared to a hefty release of provisions

Inflation soaring at 40-year highs and rising interest rates are threatening to pitch Britain back into a downturn

Signalling confidence in the near-future, the bank raised its forecast for return on tangible equity, a key measure of profitability, to 13% for 2022

Lloyds is the first of the country’s major lenders to report earnings this week, followed by Barclays on Thursday and NatWest on Friday