Profit after tax slid 16% to £1.07 billion compared with the first three months of 2021.

“Whilst we are seeing continued recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the outlook for the UK economy remains uncertain, particularly with regards to the persistency and impact of higher inflation,” Lloyds chief executive Charlie Nunn said in the earnings release.

“We are proactively contacting customers where we feel they may need assistance and will continue to help with financial health checks and other means of support,” he added.

Lloyds said the impact from a “revised economic outlook, including higher inflation” resulted in bad debt charges totalling £177 million in the first quarter.

Offsetting this was a 12% jump in revenue to £4.1 billion, helped by higher interest rates on loans.

Retail lenders are hiking rates in the wake of central banks raising their own borrowing costs to try and cool decades-high inflation.

But some customers are struggling to pay back the higher charges.

Lloyds on Wednesday added that, with its operations predominantly UK-based, it faced “no direct credit exposure to Russia or Ukraine”.

However, as a result of the war, “the group does have credit exposure to businesses that are impacted, either directly or indirectly, by higher energy costs or commodity prices, or potential disruption within their supply chains”.