UK Banks profit is a good thing

The profits that the UK banks made and announced this week should be good news for the UK.
Lloyds share price rose 2 pence, to 74 pence, putting the government about £3.17 billion in the black on its 41% holding in the bank. Its bail out cost £17.4 billion an investment that is in profit as long as the share price stays above 63.2 pence.
The government's larger, £45.2 billion bail out investment in RBS is up by about £1.9 billion, based on the bank's 52-pence (4/8/2010)share price. Any move above 49.9 pence is favourable for the government.
The banks profits payable in dividends go to the government as do the taxes on all dividends.
The government's other major holding, fully-nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock, also made a small profit across its two separate businesses. The bank was split into a "good bank" and "bad bank" in January, though it was the bad bank that made the return.
After fierce public anger over the bank bailouts, the government will be keen to demonstrate that they turned out to be a good investment.
In one of the most-optimistic predictions to date, consultancy Centre for Economics and Business Research said taxpayers could make £19 billion profit from the Lloyds and RBS holdings, with the assumption that the share prices will rise along with gross domestic product.
Not bad.