MoneyLloydsThe bumper earnings for the group are up 23% on the same period last year, and higher than the £4.1billion most analysts were expecting09:55, 30 Jul 2026Lloyds Banking Group has sparked further calls for a tax raid on banks after the high street giant reported pre-tax profits of £4.3billion for the first half of 2026.‌The bumper earnings for the group are up 23% on the same period last year, and higher than the £4.1billion most analysts were expecting.‌Lloyds is the latest big name lender to announce its latest financial results this week. Andy Burnham has been urged to hit big banks with a tax hike to help struggling families with the cost of living.‌Barclays revealed on Tuesday that its pre-tax profits jumped to £6.1billion over the first half of 2026, up from £5.2billion from the same period a year ago. NatWest will announce its next set of profits on Friday, followed by HSBC next Tuesday.TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: "This is further proof that we need to increase the bank surcharge. Big banks are making a fortune on the back of higher interest rates.‌"It's plain common sense. While bank profits are booming, working people are struggling with mortgage misery and higher bills."Andy Burnham has hit the ground running on tackling the cost of living. But with no clear end in sight to the war in Iran, energy prices will rise further – and the government needs to keep going on support."Taxing banks to cut energy bills would show clearly that the new Prime Minister is on the side of working people. It's the right thing to do and banks can easily afford it."‌Lloyds said its profits boost was down to increased income and more controlled business costs, while customer lending and deposits increased over the period.The lender also today unveiled a new four-year plan to accelerate the use of AI and further digitise the bank, which it said will drive another £2billion of savings. The new strategy will come into effect from 2027But the plans raised fears about potential job cuts. Lloyds chief executive Charlie Nunn said the bank does “not put targets around numbers of staff” but added that the shift will “impact work” across the group.Article continues below“It is going to impact work, it is going to require us to continue to reskill people and hire new people,” he said. But that’s been my history for 30-odd years in financial services.”He added: “We do think that there are new opportunities with agentic AI to both differentiate our services and grow more efficiently, i.e. provide services we’ve never been able to provide.“So being able to provide investment advice to anyone in the UK that wants to talk to us with really well-trained agents. And also be able to do work differently and more efficiently internally.”Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌LloydsBanksTax