Troubled bank hit by 11.9% bad loans as owner Lloyds' profit plummets 80%

Lloyds Banking Group has announced that HBOS made a pre-tax loss of £10.8bn in 2008.

The bank, which invested heavily in the construction and property sector, was hit by £9.9bn of bad loans.

Under the leadership of Peter Cummings, its business lending arm invested in firms that included housebuilder Crest Nicholson, retirement housebuilder McCarthy and Stone and Miller Group, as well as social housing firms Keepmoat and Apollo.

LBG said that bad debt as a proportion of HBOS’ loans is 11.9%.

Lloyds TSB made a profit of £807m, which was down 80% on the £4bn figure in 2007.

Meanwhile the new bank, which was formed after the takeover of HBOS in January and is 43% state owned, said it had so far failed to agree terms with the government over its asset protection scheme for ring-fencing toxic debt.

It said talks were “progressing and well advanced”.

The announcement came a day after Royal Bank of Scotland announced a £24.1bn loss – the biggest in UK history.

Earlier this month, banks took a 90% stake in housebuilder Crest Nicholson after the firm had trouble repaying debts.


Meanwhile, the Treasury has laid into former HBOS head, Sir Fred Goodwin, calling his refusal to give up his £693,000-a-year pension "unfortunate and unacceptable".

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