Profits up billions at both UK's biggest mortgage provider Lloyds and major oil producer Shell

The UK's largest mortgage lender has seen profits nearly double as customers pay higher interest rates.

Lloyds Banking Group profits before tax hit £2.3bn in the three months to September as the gap between the interest it earned and paid out grew to £11bn.

Compared with a year ago, profits rose 99% from £1.2bn in the same period in 2025.

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As the owner of Halifax and Bank of Scotland, Lloyds is the biggest mortgage lender in the UK.

For the first time in more than three years, the typical five-year fixed mortgage deal hit 6% earlier this month, according to financial information company Moneyfacts.

Mortgages have risen as the wave of inflation caused by the US and Israel's war in Iran means the Bank of England is widely anticipated to increase base interest rates.

In response to UK banks consistently benefiting from borrowers paying more, Chancellor John Healey announced on Wednesday a 15-month increase in the banking surcharge.

But rather than the charge rising to the previous level of 8%, as had been reported before the budget, lenders will only pay a 6% surcharge, up a smaller-than-expected 3%.

Shell profits double

Oil-producing giant Shell has also announced a doubling of profits on Thursday morning.

Adjusted earnings, the industry's preferred profit measure, hit $10.8bn (£8bn) in the three months to $5.4bn (£4bn) the year earlier, before the Iran war began.

It's due to higher margins, higher gas prices and greater gas production, the company said.

Oil and gas prices have soared since Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz shipping route, creating supply bottlenecks, and production infrastructure has been damaged in attacks.

Not since the 2022 energy crisis, after Russia invaded Ukraine, have Shell profits been so high.

But the Iran war has hit Shell's production volumes, causing them to decrease by 17% compared with the first nine months of 2025, due to reduced output in Qatar.

Shell continues to explore for oil and gas despite the International Energy Agency (IEA) saying no new fossil fuel project is compatible with the globally accepted goal of limiting warming to 1.5C.

(c) Sky News 2026: Profits up billions at both UK's biggest mortgage provider Lloyds and major oil producer Shell