Lloyds Bank rallied after results wobble

Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) finished Thursday in positive territory as investors helped the stock rally, following a weak start to the day.

Earlier, the bank reported a 14% drop in first-half pretax profit to £3.3 billion.

The company said the decline was due to tougher trading conditions and rising costs. Operating costs rose by 7% to £4.7 billion.

Lloyds retained its guidance for the year and said it was confident in meeting its targets.

The bank announced an interim ordinary dividend of 1.06 pence per share, up 15% from the previous year.

The company's Chief Executive, Charlie Nunn, highlighted the tougher-than-expected environment and pointed to stubborn inflation and a slower economic recovery as key challenges.

Shares were down 3% in early trading , against a broader sell-off in UK stocks, and by the close, Lloyds was up 1.04% at 60.28p.