Europe shares rise in early trade; Lloyds advances

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - European shares rose in early trade on Friday, with banks led higher by gains in Lloyds Banking Group after the lender said it would return to profitability in 2010.

By 0817 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares rose 0.5 percent to 1,075.44 points, recouping all the previous session's losses.

Banks were higher, led by a 8.7 percent rise in Lloyds Banking Group as the lender said it swing back to profit this year after two years of heavy losses, helped by lower bad debts and tight cost controls.

Barclays, HSBC, Societe Generale , BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank were up 0.4 to 2.2 percent.

'There are no particular dangers out there that are going to spoil the party. The unexpected and very positive trading statement from Lloyds... was terrifically encouraging,' said David Buik, senior partner at BGC partners.

Some volatility could be expected in the market due to 'quadruple witching' futures and options expiries on Friday.

Concerns over Greece's debt problems persisted on Friday. The country raised the stakes on Thursday in its quest for EU help to tackle its debt crisis, saying it cannot achieve promised deficit cuts if its borrowing costs remain so high and may have to call in the IMF.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.3 to 0.5 percent.

(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/OPEN ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.