Lloyds Bank profits: Positive Money response

London, 22 February 2024 – Positive Money responds to Lloyds Bank’s announcement today that its pre-tax profits for 2023 were £7.5 billion, up 57% from the £4.8 billion it made in 2022.

Fran Boait, co-executive director at Positive Money, said:

“Massive job cuts due to sweeping branch closures show that Lloyds certainly didn’t make these profits from providing a better service to its customers. 

“Beyond curbing customers’ access to cash and in-person services, Lloyds has literally made these bumper profits by taking pounds from borrowers but passing pennies to savers by way of unbalanced interest rates.

“The only fair recourse right now is a windfall tax on bank profits, which the Treasury could use to support the households struggling under the same high rates that have enriched the banks.” 

Notes:

• Lloyds Bank’s Q4 profit announcement can be found here: https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/investors/annual-report.html 

• Which? reports that Lloyds Bank closed 153 bank branches in 2023 and has already announced 123 branch closures for this year: https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/lloyds-halifax-bank-of-scotland-bank-branch-closures-aim9B9r5MCSq 

• Last month, Lloyds Bank announced 1,600 UK job cuts: https://news.sky.com/story/lloyds-banking-group-to-cut-1-600-jobs-as-it-shifts-towards-online-banking-13055876

• Higher interest rates mean that the Bank of England is expected to pay an estimated £75bn of interest on banks’ risk free reserves over 2023 and 2024, with a total of around £150bn due to be paid out between 2022 and 2028. For more information see: http://positivemoney.org/wp-content/uploads/Bank-windfall-tax-briefing-2.pdf 

• Positive Money is petitioning for this windfall to be taxed: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-hunt-to-tax-the-banks/ 

• Calls for a windfall tax on banks have been echoed by MPs, including Angela Eagle, John McDonnell, Clive Lewis, Diane Abbott and Richard Burgon

• Polling commissioned by Positive Money in September 2023 found the majority of the public supports a windfall tax on banks: https://positivemoney.org/2023/09/uk-public-support-windfall-tax-on-banks-polling-shows/ 

About:

Positive Money campaigns for a money and banking system which supports a fair, democratic and sustainable economy. Set up in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Positive Money is a not-for-profit company funded by charitable trusts and foundations, as well as small donations from its network of over 65,000 supporters. www.positivemoney.org