Britain's biggest mortgage lender, HBOS, said it was on course to meet full-year results forecasts after its first-half operating and financial performance met expectations.
HBOS also said in a statement it expected to beat 2003 targets for net mortgage lending and meet targets for new current accounts and credit cards.
A prolonged boom in Britain's housing market eased early this year amidst economic and security fears surrounding the war in Iraq. But the market has since perked up, with house prices rising 1.5% in May, according to HBOS's Halifax unit.
'Overall in retail banking, margins are stable and both cost performance and credit quality are good,' HBOS said, adding that sales of insurance products continued to grow in all lines.
* HBOS's smaller rival, Alliance & Leicester, said it was also trading in line with market expectations and was on track to meet its 2003 goal of double-digit growth in basic earnings per share.
The bank, which has sold off its life operations to focus on mortgages, unsecured personal loans, current accounts and savings, said like-for-like revenues rose by 5% in the five months to the end of May.
