£6.9 billion, from the £1.2 billion reported in 2020. As a result, the firm has decided to reintroduce bonuses for its employees with a pool worth £399 million. The bank revealed that the number of bankers earning more than €1 million (£835,000) a year has also increased from 17 to 21, with one staff member having earned between €4.5 million and €5 million last year.
Meanwhile, Lloyds has frozen unpaid bonuses to three of its former chief executives over charges linked to the HBOS Reading scandal, which involved bankers and business consultants who had exploited reckless credit policies to steal from the bank, damaging a multitude of businesses and livelihoods in the process.
The bank has taken a £790 million charge in relation to the HBOS Reading controversy, but said that “significant uncertainties remain” around the total financial impact of the scandal. The bank went on to add that it supports a dual set of reviews on the matter. “We continue to support the independent Foskett Panel re-review and Dame Linda Dobbs’ independent review process as we work to bring this matter to a conclusion,” Lloyds said.
Despite the surge in the bank’s profits last year, it fell short of the average analyst forecasts for £7.2 billion projected for 2021. Lloyds’ shares were pushed to its cheapest level for three months on Thursday, but bounced back to close a shade below 50p on Friday. A share buyback programme worth £2 billion has already been announced by the firm.
