By Max Colchester

LONDON--Lloyds Banking Group PLC said first-quarter net profit fell 44% in to 531 million pounds ($773.72 million) after it was hit by a series of restructuring charges.

The British retail bank, which is about 9% owned by the U.K. government, said income dropped 1% to GBP4.4 billion in the quarter. Underlying profit, which strips out a series of one off charges, came to GBP2.1 billion, down 6% compared to the same period a year earlier.

As with other lenders, Lloyds has been struggling with low interest rates which have eaten into profitability. The bank was also hit with the cost of splitting out and selling around 600 branches to form a new standalone bank.

The bank also took a GBP790 million loss on high interest paying bonds it issued to investors during the financial crisis and which have been redeemed.

Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2016 02:35 ET (06:35 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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