Shares in British banks were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after HSBC issued a disappointing set of Q1 results and said it would be taking a hit as a result of a need to compensate customers who were wrongly sold payment protection insurance.

HSBC said that pre-tax profit in the first quarter dropped 14 per cent from the same period in the previous year.

The group added that it would be paying £268 million in compensation to those who had been mis-sold insurance. Barclays also said that it would be making a similar provision of a billion pounds.

By 10:15 shares in Lloyds Banking Group dropped 0.78 per cent to 53.58 pence per share, RBS shares fell 1.10 per cent to 42.27 pence per share, Barclays shares declined 1.32 per cent to 273.95 pence per share and HSBC shares were down 1.63 per cent to 641.10 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was down 0.33 per cent to 5,957.22.

Barclays HSBC FTSE