Lloyds reveals £1.6bn first half profit

4 August 2010 0:00 am | Updated: 4 August 2010 8:40 am | By Chris Salih

Lloyds Banking Group has revealed profits of £1.6bn for the first half of 2010.

The £1.6bn return is well ahead of the £4bn loss made in the first six months of 2009 as the bank also revealed that money set aside from bad loans fell from £13.4bn to £6.5bn.

Lloyds total income reached £12.5bn for the first half of 2010, up from £9.8bn 12 months ago, while total operating losses fell by 10 per cent to £5.8bn. The bank also offered £23.7bn of committed gross lending to UK businesses as well as extending £14.9 billion of gross new mortgages to UK homeowners.

Lloyds made a £6.3bn loss last year after bad debts ballooned following the  take over of HBOS during the financial crisis. The taxpayer has a 41 per cent stake in Lloyds after it was part nationalised by the Government.

Lloyds CEO Eric Daniels says: “The first half of 2010 was a significant milestone for Lloyds Banking Group as the Group returned to profit.  Despite the challenging economic environment, the core businesses performed strongly and we continued to see positive momentum across all of the key income statement line items: income, margins, costs and impairments and an extension of the positive business trends established in 2009.  

“Given the business model we have established, coupled with the gradual recovery in economic growth in the UK, we continue to believe that the Group is well positioned to deliver a strong financial performance over the coming years.”

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