Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading following a set of forecast beating results from US banking giant Citigroup yesterday afternoon.

In its Q3 results yesterday Citigroup reported a profit of eight cents per share, significantly better than six cents per share expected by analysts.

Citigroup is currently 12 per cent owned by the US government, following the bailouts of the financial crisis. In Britain Lloyds Banking Group and RBS are still 40 per cent and 80 per cent owned by the British government, respectively.

By 10:30 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were up 1.07 per cent to 72.97 pence per share, RBS shares rose 2.44 per cent to 47.44 pence per share, Barclays shares increased 1.61 per cent to 293.90 pence per share and HSBC shares climbed 0.98 per cent to 666.90 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was up 0.04 per cent to 5,745.09.

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