Lloyds Bank returns to profit

Lloyds Banking Group released their annual results today, showing that net lending at the bank grew in the second half of the year, helping take the group to a pre-tax profit of £415m, compared with a $606m loss in 2012.

Underlying profits rose by 140% to £6.2bn although the bank was forced to put aside a futher £1.8m at the end of the year for PPI redress.

Lloyds said it had passed its target of lending to 60,000 FTBs and had in fact helped more than 80,000 customers purchase their first home, totalling £9.7bn in lending. An increase in high loan-to-value products saw Lloyds' average LTV for new lending rise from 62.6% to 63.6% throughout 2013.

The bank said it expected net mortgage lending to continue to rise in 2014 and reiterated its pledge to lend £10bn to around 80,000 FTBs in the next year.

Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said:

"These results, with group underlying profit more than doubled to £6.2bn, confirm that the group is returning to robust health, thanks to the commitment of our people and the consistent execution of the strategy we set out in June 2011," he said.

"We have a strong business model and have made significant progress, despite our legacy issues, in improving our capital position and profitability in a sustainable way. As a result, the UK Government started the process of returning the group to full private ownership.

"We also expect to apply to the regulator in the second half of the year to restart dividend payments at a modest level and to deliver progressive and sustainable payments to shareholders thereafter. This will be another important milestone on our journey to rebuild trust and confidence in our group."