London — Britain’s major banks are set to report stronger-than-expected results this week, confounding expectations that political and economic upheaval caused by the vote to quit the EU would immediately squeeze profits. Since the vote in June, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds have fallen by about a quarter, partly reflecting their heavy exposure to any downturn in the British economy. But senior executives from the major banks said consumer spending had held up in the third quarter, while there had only been a modest drop in demand for mortgages and business loans, big revenue earners. The executives also said that economic conditions would probably get much tougher in 2017 when Britain is due formally to start the process to leave the EU no later than March, when two years of exit negotiations will start. "This is a period of calm, maybe a false period of calm, before the storm," a senior bank executive said. "But don’t be fooled by it." Next week’s results will be the...
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