LONDON (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group reported third quarter profits that exceeded expectations on Wednesday, and reaffirmed its performance guidance for 2024, citing increasing financial confidence among its customers.

Britain's biggest mortgage lender reported statutory pretax profit for the July-September period of 1.8 billion pounds ($2.34 billion), narrowly down from 1.9 billion pounds a year ago but above the average analyst forecast of 1.6 billion pounds.

($1 = 0.7696 pounds)

(Reporting By Sinead Cruise, editing by Lawrence White)