Lloyds Q3 loss narrows despite $1.6 billion charge
Lloyds Banking Group sees Q3 loss narrow despite taking another $1.6 billion charge
LONDON (AP) -- Part-nationalized Lloyds Banking Group has set aside another 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) to pay claims for mis-selling payment protection insurance but managed to report a narrower loss in the third quarter.
The additional provision to compensate customers who bought insurance they didn't need raised the bank's estimate of the total cost to 5.3 billion pounds.
The group, 40 percent owned by taxpayers, said Thursday that its net loss for the three months ending Sept. 30 was 361 million pounds, compared to 501 million pounds a year earlier. The pretax loss of 144 million pounds was down from 607 million pounds a year earlier.
Lloyds said its underlying profit — excluding the insurance provision, the cost of disposing of businesses and other items — doubled to 840 million pounds.
