Lloyds takes £4bn hit

HBOS is being blamed for Lloyds Banking Group reporting £4bn in losses today.

The bank, which is 43% owned by taxpayers, said it had been hit by write-downs, mainly from the assets of HBOS, which it took over in January.

Lloyds said impairment losses in the six months to the end of June jumped to £13.4bn pounds – more than five times the £2.5bn pounds a year ago.
 
Some 80% of the losses came from HBOS legacy assets, it said.

However, the bank said that impairments were likely to have peaked in the first half and that it expects its performance to improve from the second half of this year as the economy improves.