Lloyds sees 95% profit drop following loans to small businesses

A national bank has reported a 95 per cent drop in pre-tax profit for the first three months of the year.

Lloyds Banking Group has said that a £1.4bn impairment charge caused its pre-tax profit to drop to £74m.

Its profit after tax fell 60 per cent to £480m, with net income dropping by £0.4bn to £4bn.

The bank also said it had lent around £410m to small businesses as part of the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

Antonio Horta-Osorio, Lloyds’ chief executive, commented: “The coronavirus pandemic presents an unprecedented social and economic challenge which is having a significant impact on people and businesses in the UK and around the world.

“The economic outlook is clearly challenging, with the longer-term outcome dependent on the severity and length of the pandemic and the mitigating impact of government and other measures in the UK and across the world.

“I would like to pay tribute to the exemplary dedication being shown by all our colleagues across the group providing vital banking services to those in need, but also in going above and beyond in countless and often unseen ways to support the most vulnerable.”