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Lloyds Bank confirms 9,000 job losses and branch closures | Lloyds Bank confirms 9,000 job losses and branch closures |
(34 minutes later) | |
Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed 9,000 job losses and the closure of 150 branches over the next three years. | Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed 9,000 job losses and the closure of 150 branches over the next three years. |
The latest job losses - representing about 10% of its workforce - come on top of 43,000 cuts made since 2008. | |
The bank said it would concentrate on urban branch closures first and has abandoned its pledge to keep open "the last branch in town." | |
The group is also setting aside another £900m to cover possible payouts for the PPI mis-selling scandal. | |
That has cost Lloyds £11.3bn so far, including £2.5bn in administration costs. | |
Other fines have topped £200m. | |
Lloyds, which owns the Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands, reported pre-tax profits of £1.61bn for the nine months to 30 September. | |
"The group is performing strongly," said chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio. | |
"We have met or exceeded the strategic objectives set out in 2011 and are ready to move on to the next stage in our development." | |
Mobile banking | |
The bank says the cuts and branch closures are due to customers switching towards mobile banking. | |
As a result, Lloyds will be investing £1bn in digital technology over the next three years. | |
According to the banking trade body the BBA, digital banking transactions are now worth almost £1bn a day, with almost 40 million mobile and internet banking transactions every week. | |
The bank remains confident that it will be able to pay a dividend to shareholders in 2014, but it needs the permission of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) before it can do so. | |
Finance director George Culmer said talks with the PRA were "in a good position." | |
Spin-off | |
Earlier this year, Lloyds spun off the TSB bank as a separate floated business to appease European Union competition authorities. | |
It has gradually been reducing its stake in TSB and now owns just 50%, Lloyds said. | |
The government still holds a 25% stake in the bank, but has reduced its holding from about 39% through two separate share sales since September last year. | The government still holds a 25% stake in the bank, but has reduced its holding from about 39% through two separate share sales since September last year. |
In early trading, shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 1.5% on the news. | |
On Monday, its shares fell 1.8% after the European Banking Authority's results revealed that the bank only narrowly passed its "stress test". | |