Lloyds Banking Group plunges into red after HBOS takeover

Lloyds Banking Group reported 2008 losses of 9.9 billion pounds ($14 billion) following its growth into a "superbank" through the emergency takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) last September.

Lloyds Banking Group on Friday reported 2008 losses of 9.9 billion pounds ($14 billion) following its growth into a "superbank" through the emergency takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) last September.

HT Image

Lloyds core division made a pre-tax profit of 807 million pounds in 2008, but HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, had suffered losses of 9.9 billion pounds, the banking group said.

Even so, Lloyds 2008 profits were 80 per cent lower than in 2007.

The government backed takeover at the height of the banking crisis last September had been highly controversial, and the combined group is expected to announce major job losses in its 145,000-strong global workforce.

The government has a 43 per cent share in the combined group.

The figures come a day after Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced a record annual loss of 24.1 billion pounds for 2008 the biggest in British corporate history.

But, unlike RBS, which placed 325 billion pounds of toxic assets into a new government backed insurance scheme, Lloyds Banking Group said on Friday that no agreement had been reached on such a transfer with the gove