But Lloyds is due to forecast that worst is over
- Jill Treanor
- The Observer, Sunday 2 August 2009
- Article history
High Street banks are this week forecast to write off a combined £32bn as the recession bites, exacerbating the difficulties facing businesses and households in making loan repayments on time.
The biggest writedown – of up to £11bn – is forecast to come from Lloyds Banking Group, largely as a result of problems inside its HBOS businesses. But the bank, 43% owned by the taxpayer, is expected to reveal that it believes the worst is over, even though bad debts could remain high for some time.
Despite the scale of the losses on loans, many banks may manage to remain in the black, helped by complex accounting rules relating to the way they value their own debt and acquisitions.
