Lloyds confirms plan to cut 10% of workforce as PPI bill soars past £11bn

Lloyds Banking Group has set aside an extra £900m in payment protection insurance (PPI) provisions and confirmed it will cut 9,000 jobs as part of a switch from high street to digital banking.

Reporting pre-tax profits of £1.6bn for the nine months to 30 September, the state-backed lender said 9,000 jobs will go and a net 150 branches will be closed by 2017 as it invests £1bn in digital products and services. While the profit figure is down 5% year-on-year, a £751m three-month figure does reverse a pre-tax loss of £440m sustained in the same quarter last year. However, Lloyds is increasing its PPI provision by more than analysts expected due to “increased reactive complaints and expected increased remediation and uphold rates”. Total PPI provisions now stand at £11.3bn, ...