Injin Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle6689535.ece LLOYDS BANKING GROUP is poised to write off as much as £13 billion on its loans to commercial property, businesses and mortgage holders as the crisis engulfing the taxpayer-backed bank deepens.First-half results due to be posted in three weeks will show that its losses are accelerating, in spite of recent suggestions that the worst of the recession is over. UBS analysts expect Lloyds to announce a bottom line half-year loss of £6.3 billion as a result of the soaring provisions. The writeoffs for the first six months of the year would match the losses recorded by Lloyds TSB and HBOS in 2008, as they consummated their disastrous merger. The expected bad debt charge is almost twice what Lloyds paid for HBOS when they came together under the government’s watch last autumn. Total writeoffs for this year at Lloyds could exceed £20 billion. The bad debts come as the bank struggles to find a new chairman to replace Sir Victor Blank, who has agreed to stand down following pressure from UKFI, the government’s shareholder body, which owns 43% of the bank’s shares. A number of the City’s biggest fund managers have warned Lloyds not to press ahead with the appointment of Sir Win Bischoff to the role. Although Bischoff had been widely tipped to get the job, a wave of resistance has emerged. Investors believe he is tainted by his former role as chairman of Citigroup, which has received a series of bailouts from American taxpayers. Bischoff is also close to Eric Daniels, the chief executive of Lloyds and a former colleague at Citigroup. Many of Lloyds’ biggest shareholders are keen for the new chairman to find a replacement for Daniels over time — a job they fear Bischoff may not have the stomach for. City grandee Chris Gibson-Smith has also been linked to the job, although investors have queried how he would be able to dedicate the time needed for it, given his existing position as chairman of both the London Stock Exchange and British Land. Lloyds is also fighting off a full-frontal assault from Brussels, over claims it may have benefited too much from state aid. Neelie Kroes, the European Union’s competition commissioner, warned two weeks ago that she was examining both Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, and she threatened to break them up. Analysts say that when the huge provisions are put to one side, Lloyds is now highly profitable and has a dominant market share in the UK. Daniels is confident that, in the long term, investors will enjoy enormous benefits from the marriage of the two banks. Alistair Darling, the chancellor, and Tom Scholar, his most senior civil servant, have made a number of submissions to Kroes in recent days pressing the case for the banks to remain intact. The Treasury argues that the UK’s bail-out programmes have been much tougher on banks than similar deals around Europe. According to banking sources, however, EU officials are concerned that Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland are gaining too big a share of certain markets. Ironically, their rising market shares are partly due to government pressure to pump more lending into the real economy. John Kingman, the chief executive of UKFI, will reveal his strategic plan on Monday. He is expected to say that the taxpayer banks should be allowed to lend profitably, irrespective of government pressure. ............................. Beyond farce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KingCharles1st Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I wonder if the X billion bankers profits come out of this, or are sort of "tagged on the end..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 The thing they dare not say is that they lent a SHED full of cash overseas, which they are NOT going to get back. Factor in the ON GOING US collaspe & well............Frankly we f*cked! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOP Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle6689535.ece............................. Beyond farce. The recovereh drags on............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I wonder IF the MSM will make a BIG thing of this? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Lorne Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 ...is this the deal Gordo set up for Lloyds and it's shareholders..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guillotine Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 ...is this the deal Gordo set up for Lloyds and it's shareholders..... How much are RBS going to be down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinking Feeling Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Thank God the recession's over otherwise we would be neck deep in poo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_austrian Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 They must have been doing really well to be able to write off £13bn and still be a going concern. That's more than £200 for every man woman and child in the UK, they must have been saving up for generations. The reason it makes no material difference to the bank (still champagne for breakfast in the square mile) is that banking institutions are already bankrupt the moment they lend money they do not have. It is only a question of the degree of bankruptcy, indeed the the strength of a bank is very often measured by the extent of the bankruptcy with dead loans in fact treated as assets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyMe Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...loyds-deal.html Shareholders turn their fire on PM over 'disastrous' Lloyds deal By Mail On Sunday Reporter Last updated at 11:05 PM on 11th July 2009 * Comments (0) * Add to My Stories GORDON BROWN was last night dragged personally into the row over Lloyds TSB's disastrous takeover of HBOS. Furious Lloyds shareholders have demanded transcripts of secret negotiations between Mr Brown and the bank's chairman Sir Victor Blank last July and September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 My cup run-th over:) Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Always suspected it'd be commercial property not residential mortgages that'd pull it all down. Still more to come I reckon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOP Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...loyds-deal.htmlShareholders turn their fire on PM over 'disastrous' Lloyds deal By Mail On Sunday Reporter Last updated at 11:05 PM on 11th July 2009 * Comments (0) * Add to My Stories GORDON BROWN was last night dragged personally into the row over Lloyds TSB's disastrous takeover of HBOS. Furious Lloyds shareholders have demanded transcripts of secret negotiations between Mr Brown and the bank's chairman Sir Victor Blank last July and September. It just gets worse by the day now. The economy is getting worse, Afghanistan is getting worse and Gordo will probably be blamed if swine flu overwhelms us in the winter. Labour supporters will be as rare as rocking horse shit before the years out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellerkat Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Always suspected it'd be commercial property not residential mortgages that'd pull it all down. Still more to come I reckon. No sentiment (But my house is WORTH IT! ) in CRE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Bonuses all round, What what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saberu Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Revolution or facism (in full force) can't be far off now. The government either need to oppress us even more to pay for all this or there needs to be a revolt. Quick poll, would people prefer 90% tax or a revolution? For those people who are business owners with a relatively comfortable life bear in mind if your customers can't afford your products you will be going down with them. Problem is things could be even worse after a revolution considering the average intelligence of people here and the utter selfishness of our culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.