LONDON — Britain's bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group said yesterday that first-quarter net profit sank by almost one-quarter to 1.15 billion pounds (TL 4 billion). That compared with earnings after taxation of 1.53 billion pounds in the same period of 2013, when it registered an exceptional 776-million pound gain from selling a big chunk of its gilts portfolio, LBG said in a results statement. However, adjusted pre-tax profit - stripping out one-off costs and provisions - climbed by 22 percent to 1.8 billion pound in the quarter, on the back of cost-cutting and a sharp 57-percent drop in impairments. "We are supporting and benefiting from the U.K. economic recovery and are delivering better underlying profitability as well as improved returns for shareholders, from a stronger, lower risk balance sheet," said Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio.