Britain’s Lloyds bank returned to health in the first half of 2013, with profits of 2.1 billion pounds ($ 3.2 billion), it said Thursday.
The profits were a sharp upturn for the bank, which made losses of 456 million pounds in the same period last year.
Analysts predict that the return to profit will push Chancellor George Osborne into making moves to sell the state’s 39-per-cent stake in the bank.
The bank said it had reduced bad debts by 43 per cent, to 1.8 billion pounds, but that it had to set aside another 450 million pounds to cover compensation claims for a mis-selling of products scandal. That brings its bill for the scandal to 7.3 billion pounds.
In another move marking its return to health, LLoyds said it would hold talks with regulators regarding the revival of shareholder dividend payouts.
It has not paid out a dividend since the 20.3-billion-pound bailout it received from the Government in 2008, at the height of the financial crisis.
Shares leapt by 5 per cent on news of the bank’s results.
“As a result of the work we have done over the last two years, our performance is not only much improved, but is now more stable and resilient,” said the bank’s chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio.