LLOYDS BANKING Group is to cut 15,000 jobs and halve its international presence under an overhaul by its new chief executive aimed at returning the part-nationalised British bank to health.
Lloyds said yesterday it would deliver £1.5 billion of annual savings by 2014, allowing it to invest an extra £2 billion in its core retail banking activities. The cost of the programme will be £2.3 billion.
The bank aims to cut its international presence to under 15 countries by 2014 from 30 now.
Lloyds announced the winding down of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) as a licensed bank last year and the transfer of business to Bank of Scotland in the UK.
New chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio, whom Lloyds poached from rival Santander UK, said his plan would create a more agile organisation by cutting through middle management, centralising control functions and creating a simpler legal structure.
Lloyds, 41 per cent owned by the British government after needing to be bailed out during the financial crisis and with 30 million customers, said it would “revitalise” the bank, including the Halifax brand it inherited after its troubled 2008 takeover of HBOS.
Bancassurance will remain a core part of the group, and it said it planned to restart progressive dividend payments.
Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland were bailed out and part-nationalised by the British government during the recent credit crisis. – (Reuters)
