BRITAIN'S four biggest banks are on track to report annual profits 14 per cent higher than last year, when they made a record-breaking £45.9 billion, new analysis shows.

Today, Natwest Group revealed a surprise pre-tax profit of £1.8bn in the first quarter of the year, 36 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Following results from HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds Bank earlier this week, research and campaign group Positive Money calculated that this puts their combined pre-tax profits at £136.8bn since the Bank of England began raising the base interest rate in December 2021.