Three of Britain's largest banks will announce their quarterly results this week and analysts are calling for a mixed bag of numbers.
Lloyds Banking Group, which announces third quarter results on Wednesday, is seen delivering a 4.5 percent rise in underlying profit before tax on the back of lower costs, according to analysts at Investec.
On the other hand, Barclays could see a 4 percent decline in third-quarter pre-tax profits from a year ago period when it releases results on Thursday, Investec said. Apart from earnings, investors may be on the lookout for further information about the bank's new chief executive.
Also reporting this week is The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and markets will be keen to know the bank's current situation following a share sale announced by the government in August.
Last week, Credit Suisse kicked off the earnings season for European banks with a slightly disappointing net income of 779 billion Swiss francs for the three months to September 30. The Swiss bank warned that both wealth management and the investment bank had been impacted by low client activity and adverse market conditions.
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