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Banks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike

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Wise, A. (2026, October 23). Banks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/john-healey-banks-lloyds-banking-group-barclays-budget-b1302071.html

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Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-23 · by Anna Wise

Quick Summary

Banks are expected to report increased profits despite facing a potential tax hike. The UK Treasury is considering raising the bank surcharge from 3% to 8%, reversing a previous reduction. Lloyds Banking Group forecasts near-doubling of its third-quarter profit, reporting £2.3 billion in pre-tax earnings, up 12% year-over-year. NatWest and HSBC are also projected to report strong profits, with HSBC's expected to rise to $9.7 billion (£7.3 billion) from $7.3 billion (£5.5 billion). Analyst Richard Hunter suggests the tax hike could reduce bank earnings by up to 6% and impact domestic banks more significantly than international ones.
Written by AI on 2026-10-23, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 25, 2026, banks in the UK are expected to report higher profits despite facing the potential for an increased tax surcharge on their earnings. The surcharge, currently at 3%, is speculated to rise to 8% under Mr Healey's consideration, reversing a cut introduced by former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Lloyds Banking Group, which is the UK’s largest mortgage lender, reported pre-tax profits of £2.3 billion for the third quarter, marking an increase of 12% from the same period last year. The group also announced plans to cut 5,000 staff, about 5% of its total workforce, as part of cost-saving measures and investments in technology like AI.

Written for “Banks Profits And Tax Hike Prospects” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Banks Profits And Tax Hike Prospects
Economy/Business · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 20% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 15 claims Outlet record 64/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 4 of 15 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of financial reporting and tax policies in response to budget uncertainties, but do not describe the same specific incident or outcome.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the Budget and its implications for capital gains tax and bank profits, not a single specific incident.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A reports on job cuts at Barclays due to AI implementation, while Article B discusses potential tax hikes and reported profits. These are distinct events.”
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A reports on job cuts at Barclays due to increased use of AI, while Article B discusses potential tax hikes and reported profits for banks.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 22 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A reports on job cuts at Barclays due to AI adoption, while Article B discusses potential tax hikes and increased profits for banks, including a statement from the same CEO but about different financial outcomes.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 3 of 50 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Labour's stance on banking taxes and praise for banks, rather than the same specific incident.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe a general trend and specific profit report for Barclays, but they do not cover the exact same news event or occurrence.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 12 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Barclays' financial performance and future plans; one focuses on job cuts and profit growth, while the other discusses potential tax hikes.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 69/100
“While both articles discuss potential tax hikes on bank profits, they refer to different stages or aspects of the proposed policy with distinct dates and details.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
20%
3 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
2
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8256 article(s) · 73 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 73 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Anna Wise
73 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 Banks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike Banks are widely speculated to be a target with Mr Healey thought to be considering increasing the surcharge on profits from 3% to 8% – reversing a tax cut for the sector introduced by former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
Also by Anna Wise
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 73 articles by Anna Wise →

Topics

Conservative Lloyds Lloyds Banking Group NatWest Venkat

Subjects

NatWest ORG · 3× Lloyds ORG · 2× Venkat PERSON · 2× CS Venkatakrishnan PERSON · 1× Conservative NORP · 1× HSBC ORG · 1× Healey PERSON · 1× Jeremy Hunt PERSON · 1× Lloyds Banking Group ORG · 1× the Financial Conduct Authority’s ORG · 1×

Narrative

Banks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike Banks are widely speculated to be a target with Mr Healey thought to be considering increasing the surcharge on profits from 3% to 8% – reversing a tax cut for the sector introduced by former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
framing: assertive · carried by 2 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
🔮 Banks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike Banks are widely speculated to be a target with Mr Healey thought to be considering increasing the surcharge on profits from 3% to 8% – reversing a tax cut for the sector introduced by former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
2026-10-23 · Evening Standard
Banks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike · assertive framing
2026-10-25 · Evening Standard
Banks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 3 hedged)

Banks set to report stronger profits as they face prospect of tax hike Banks are widely speculated to be a target with Mr Healey thought to be considering increasing the surcharge on profits from 3% to 8% – reversing a tax cut for the sector introduced by former Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt. asserted
Healey → set → Hunt
Chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan, known within the bank as Venkat, said: “We are already a bank which makes a lot of our money outside the UK so this is not a question of a financial hit to us – it’s bearable.” asserted
it → know → us
It came as the bank reported pre-tax profits £2.3 billion, an increase of 12% on the same quarter last year. asserted
bank → come → quarter
The figures came alongside the announcement that it was planning to cut 5,000 staff this year, or about 5% of its total workforce, as part of cost savings across the bank. asserted
it → come → bank
Venkat said deploying artificial intelligence (AI) was the “icing on the cake” of efforts to invest in technology that will make the bank more efficient. asserted
bank → say → technology
Lloyds Banking Group, which is the UK’s largest mortgage lender, is forecast to report a near-doubling of its third-quarter profit on Thursday. asserted
which → forecast → Thursday
Read More A consensus of analysts show the banking group reporting a pre-tax profit of £2.3 billion, up from £1.2 billion a year ago. asserted
group → read → billion
However, last year’s figures were impacted by a £1.95 billion provision for potential costs related the Financial Conduct Authority’s compensation scheme for drivers who were mis-sold a car loan. asserted
who → impact → loan
This scheme is currently on hold as it comes up against legal challenges from other lenders and consumer representatives in court. asserted
it → come → court
NatWest is expected to report an operating pre-tax profit of £2.2 billion, which would be flat on the previous year. asserted
which → expect → year
While HSBC is forecast to report a jump in earnings to a 9.7 billion dollar pre-tax profit (£7.3 billion), from 7.3 billion dollars (£5.5 billion) the year before. asserted
HSBC → forecast → dollars
Richard Hunter, head of markets for Interactive Investor, said increasing the bank surcharge could “reduce earnings by a possible 6%” and “decrease global competitiveness given that its rates of corporation tax are already among the highest to be found globally”. uncertain
rates → say → highest
“It is also thought that the domestic banks, Lloyds and NatWest, could be most affected,” he said. uncertain
he → think → ?
However, Mr Hunter said Lloyds has been building alternative sources of income such as insurance, credit cards and wealth management which could “lessen the reliance on the more traditional income streams”. uncertain
which → say → streams
“Meanwhile NatWest is now enjoying a new lease of life,” he added, referring to recent shareholder returns and acquisitions including the £2.7 billion purchase of Evelyn Partners. asserted
he → enjoy → Partners
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