Lloyds TSB said it had no need to join the queue of banks seeking to raise billions of pounds from shareholders after unveiling relatively modest write-downs in respect of the credit crunch, which has hammered bigger rivals.

The bank, the UK's fifth biggest, said it had reaped the rewards of a relatively low-risk strategy in the first quarter when underlying pre-tax profits rose by more than 10% compared with the same period last year.

The growth rate was calculated before accounting for £387m write-downs in respect of the damage caused by financial market turbulence.

However, with the write- downs dwarfed by those made by the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland, the directors said Lloyds TSB was well placed to deal with the turbulence which has hit bigger fish hard.

"We have got a very clear strategy of being around the lower risk end of the spectrum and that benefits the balance sheet and also the profit and loss account," said Tim Tookey, acting finance director.

"Capital ratios look very robust against that."

In a trading update, Lloyds TSB claimed the benefits of relatively limited exposure to the markets for US home loans and exotic credit instruments, which soured last year leading to turmoil in financial markets.

Helped by strong liquidity, Lloyds TSB was able to maintain activity levels, while the bank grew revenues faster than costs.

The retail bank continued to win customers and deposits. Lloyds TSB grew its share of the mortgage market while maintaining lending policies.

The corporate and commercial banking businesses also grew volumes and profits.

Credit quality remained satisfactory.

Lloyds TSB said the insurance arm, including Scottish Widows, benefited from strong pension sales. However, there was a significant fall in savings and investment products.

The £387m write-downs in respect of wholesale and international banking assets were mainly due to a cut in the value of the group's trading portfolio as a result of the global credit crunch. These came in addition to a £280m mark down on assets last year.

The bank is also writing down £740m in respect of the fall in the market value of assets which it expects to hold to maturity. This adjustment goes through the reserves on the balance sheet rather than the profit-and-loss account.

Alex Potter, analyst at brokerage Collins Stewart, said the write-downs were "reasonably comforting" given the far greater write-downs seen by rival banks.

Last week HBOS asked investors for £4bn in new capital to help deal with anticipated tougher market conditions in the next three to four years and said it was making pre-tax write-downs of around £3.5bn. The bank wrote down £970m before tax on mortgage-related investments on its trading book, up from £227m last year. It is also writing down similar assets held on its banking book, which does not impact on capital or profits, by some £1.874bn after tax, roughly £2.5bn after tax is added.

Last month Royal Bank made a £12bn cash-call and unveiled a total of £5.9bn of additional write-downs, before tax, stemming from the global credit crisis.

Tookey said Lloyds TSB was being presented with more acquisition opportunities, but indicated it was in no hurry to buy. He said Bank of England moves to boost liquidity in credit markets, by encouraging banks to lend to each other, were welcome but would take time to work.

Collins Stewart's Potter reckoned Lloyds TSB remained a "safe haven" in terms of capital and funding.

"But you can't get away from the fact it will be faced with a UK recession," he said.

Shares in Lloyds TSB closed down 13.75p at 439p.