Lloyds announces 370 more job losses
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds announces 370 more job losses
Job losses are rolling along at Lloyds Banking Group with 370 positions to go at its Wealth & International, Group Operations and Group Executive functions across the UK.
Trade union Unite puts the total headcount reduction in the past year at around 15,000, although no redundancies are expected from the latest cuts.
Lloyds also announced 585 UK [...]
Lloyds posts £6.3bn operating loss
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds posts £6.3bn operating loss
Lloyds Banking Group posted an operating loss of £6.3 billion for 2009, compared with a business loss of £6.7 billion in 2008.
Total impairments at the 42% state-owned bank totalled almost £24 billion, up from £15 billion a year earlier.
However, second-half impairments were 21% down on the first six months of 2009 and the group said [...]
Lloyds’ divests 70% stake in esure
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds’ divests 70% stake in esure
Lloyds Banking Group has agreed the sale of its 70% stake in esure for slightly over £185 million, although the bank says the impact of the sale on its accounts is not expected to be material.
The online insurer is being 100% acquired in a management buyout led by its chairman, Peter Wood, who already holds [...]
MPs slam Lloyds and RBS on lending
by Gill Montia
Story link: MPs slam Lloyds and RBS on lending
Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have received a blasting from MPs over the amounts they are lending.
The banks are committed to funding mortgage and business loans of £14 billion and £25 billion respectively by the end of this month, in return for taxpayer support.
However they will be falling short of targets [...]
Reshuffle and senior appointments at Lloyds
by Gill Montia
Story link: Reshuffle and senior appointments at Lloyds
Lloyds Banking Group has made a number of senior staff changes and appointments at its insurance division, while at the same time saying goodbye to the last remaining members of the old HBOS board.
Ex-HBOS Jo Dawson, director of wealth and international, and Dan Watkins, managing director of mortgages, are leaving “to pursue other opportunities”.
Ms Dawson’s [...]
Co-op registers 38% rise in current account sales
by Gill Montia
Story link: Co-op registers 38% rise in current account sales
Co-operative Bank Current Accounts saw an impressive 38% rise in current account sales during 2009.
Twenty-two per cent of new customers were switchers and the figures show a 31% increase in switching activity from the UK’s big four banks (Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, Barclays and RBS).
According to research, those looking for a new current account provider [...]
Secret of Lloyds’ capital raising success
by Gill Montia
Story link: Secret of Lloyds’ capital raising success
The recent record-breaking capital raising by Lloyds Banking Group was backed by state of the art web design provided by Northcote Internet, which claims to be the longest established UK webcast provider to the investor relations market.
The £9 billion debt exchange and £13.5 billion rights issue were complex not only because of the size and [...]
Speculation that Lloyds may sell Scottish Widows
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Speculation that Lloyds may sell Scottish Widows
Lloyds Banking Group is coming under renewed pressure to shed its Scottish Widows subsidiary, the Scotsman has reported.
According to Barclays Capital analysts Lloyds Banking Group could stand to see up to £18bn wiped off of its balance sheets by new banking regulations (Basel III).
The firm could even end up some £3.6bn short of new regulatory [...]
Lloyds announced 585 job losses
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds announced 585 job losses
Lloyds Banking Group has announced 585 UK job losses, mostly relating to the closure of its 58-strong network of Black Horse personal loan centres.
In 2009, trade union Unite claimed that the 43%-state-owned bank cut around 15,500 posts with redundancies announced on “an almost weekly basis” leaving staff “in a permanent state of anxiety”.
The latest [...]
Lloyds faces multi-million pound losses on Kilmartin collapse
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds faces multi-million pound losses on Kilmartin collapse
Lloyds Banking Group could be facing substantial losses over the collapse of Kilmartin Holdings.
The Scottish property developer has been placed in administration with debts to HBOS in the region of £500 million.
Kilmartin built a reputation as a major UK developer, working on projects across the country including Wynyard Business Park in Teeside and a waterfront [...]
Ex-Lloyds TSB manager on £1m theft charge
by Gill Montia
Story link: Ex-Lloyds TSB manager on £1m theft charge
An ex-manager of a London branch of Lloyds TSB is standing trial at the Old Bailey accused of having stolen close to £1 million from her employer.
Ania Wadsworth is alleged to have manipulated the accounts at the Golders Green branch between 2002 and 2007, to conceal a series of thefts amounting to £921,717.
According to [...]
Lloyds fined $217 million for US sanction busting
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds fined $217 million for US sanction busting
Lloyds Banking Group has been handed down a $217 million fine from the US Treasury department over cash transfers relating to clients resident in Iran, Libya and Sudan.
The bank has acknowledged breaking US sanctions, aimed at preventing the funding of terrorist organisations, by allowing clients in these countries to conduct business with US financial institutions.
Between [...]
Lloyds reports strong support for £13.5bn rights issue
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds reports strong support for £13.5bn rights issue
Lloyds Banking Group has reported “strong support” for its £13.5 billion right issue, which was completed last week.
The group has received valid acceptances for just over 95% of the new stock, which will commence trading, fully paid, today on the London Stock Exchange.
Commenting on the result, group chief executive, Eric Daniels, said: “Our focus remains [...]
Lloyds cuts 373 jobs with closure of Brighton centre
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds cuts 373 jobs with closure of Brighton centre
Lloyds Banking Group has announced the closure of its customer contact centre in Brighton, with the loss of 373 jobs.
It is understood that the Sussex House centre will shut in the Spring, with its work transferred to other Lloyds sites across the UK.
Referring to a planned headcount reduction at the group’s life and pensions’ administration [...]
Lloyds shareholders take legal action against Chancellor and BoE governor
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds shareholders take legal action against Chancellor and BoE governor
Shareholders of Lloyds Banking Group are taking legal action against Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling.
Lloyds Action Now spokeswoman and former BBC Watchdog presenter, Alice Beer, says the group is proposing to ask the High Court to establish whether Mr King and Mr Darling have acted beyond their [...]
Chancellor explains away £61.6bn in RBS and HBOS loans
by Gill Montia
Story link: Chancellor explains away £61.6bn in RBS and HBOS loans
The BBC has reported that Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has made an emergency statement to the House of Commons regarding loans made by the Bank of England to RBS and HBOS.
The announcement follows yesterday’s revelation that the Bank propped up the two banks with £61.6 billion at the height of the financial crisis, [...]
BoE made secret loans of £61.6bn to RBS and HBOS
by Gill Montia
Story link: BoE made secret loans of £61.6bn to RBS and HBOS
At the height of the financial crisis the Bank of England was forced to prop up Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS with loans totalling £61.6 billion.
The emergency funding was needed during October and November of 2008 to maintain the stability of the UK financial system and “prevent a loss of confidence spreading through [...]
Lloyds pitches rights issue at 59.9% discount
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds pitches rights issue at 59.9% discount
Lloyds Banking Group is offering shareholders a 59.5% discount on Monday’s closing share price in a rights issue aimed at raising £13.5 billion.
The bank, which is 43% state owned, has embarked on a £22.5 billion fund raising to avoid participation in the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS).
The rights issue, which will create a new UK [...]
Hundreds more jobs at risk at Lloyds
by Gill Montia
Story link: Hundreds more jobs at risk at Lloyds
Lloyds Banking Group is to cut another 570 posts, and has a further 340 under review.
The job losses will come at the group’s life and pensions’ administration centre in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, bringing the total cull announced since the bank’s hurried merger with HBOS at the beginning of last year to around 15,000.
The latest staffing review [...]
Lloyds explores stockbroking future
by Gill Montia
Story link: Lloyds explores stockbroking future
Lloyds Banking Group is reported to be in talks that could result in a joint venture with stockbroker, Execution.
The latter was founded in 2001 and describes itself as “a full-service agency broker providing clients with execution, sales, trading, research and corporate access”.
Its clients include major investing institutions, including mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies and [...]
