Shares in British banks were broadly down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading following yesterday's results from HSBC.

HSBC reported a doubling of its pre-tax profits to $19 billion in 2010, however this was still below the $20.27 billion predicted by analysts.

As a result of the underperformance European banks UBS and Deutsche Bank downgraded HSBC's ratings.

The news helped depress shares in British banks.

By 10:35 shares in RBS were down 0.33 per cent to 45.01 pence per share, Barclays shares fell 0.34 per cent to 318.75 pence per share and HSBC shares dropped 1.95 per cent to 664.80 pence per share.

However Lloyds Banking Group saw its shares rise 0.26 per cent to 62.12 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was up 0.38 per cent to 6,016.88.

Barclays HSBC FTSE