"The impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the first half of 2020 has been profound on the way we live our lives and on the global economy. We remain fully focused on helping our customers and the UK economy recover, in collaboration with Government and our regulators.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to all my colleagues across the Group for their dedication and persistence which have allowed us to deliver vital banking services to our customers effectively throughout the pandemic.
Although the outlook is uncertain, the Group's financial strength and business model allow us to help Britain recover and play our part in returning our country to prosperity. Our customer focused strategic plan remains fully aligned with the Group's long term strategic objectives, the position of our franchise and the interests of shareholders."
António Horta-Osório
Supporting customers, colleagues and the economy in difficult times
· Actively supporting retail, small business and commercial customers through a range of flexible propositions
- Over £9 billion lending provided to businesses through government-backed schemes, including Bounce Back Loan, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan schemes
- Over 1.1 million payment holidays granted to retail customers and c.33,000 capital repayment holidays provided to small businesses and corporates to alleviate temporary financial pressures
- Payment holidays granted on insurance premiums and advance payments for life and critical illness claims to support customers in financial difficulty during the pandemic
· Job and pay security provided to all colleagues since March. c.50,000 colleagues now working from home
· Multi-channel distribution model, with the UK's leading digital bank, combined with around 90 per cent of branches remaining open throughout the lockdown, enabling the Group to continue to serve customers
Continued strategic progress
· Continued progress against strategy with particular focus on building a leading customer experience, further digitising the Group, transforming the way we work and maximising Group capabilities. Over £2.4 billion invested in strategic initiatives during GSR3 to help deliver sustainable shareholder value creation
· The benefits of our investments from GSR3 have positioned us well in the current environment:
- Operating the UK's leading digital bank we now have more than 17 million digitally active users, up 4 per cent during lockdown, while recording digital customer satisfaction levels at an all-time high, even in a period of increased demand
- Our commitment to delivering cost efficiencies and creating capacity to invest in the business has enabled us to respond quickly to new challenges, such as using robotics to process c.98 per cent of Bounce Back Loan applications
- Our unique Single Customer View, which added another 1 million customers in the first half of the year, enables us to serve a wider range of our customers' financial needs than ever before
· The opportunity exists to accelerate our transformation, and further enhance and adapt strategy, customer propositions and colleague work practices as the Group learns from the crisis
And later;
Dividend decision
We announced the cancellation of the final 2019 dividend on 31 March. Our decision on the outstanding 2019 dividend was taken by the Group's Board at the specific request of our regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and was in line with all other major UK listed banks. At that time, the Board also decided, again in line with all other major UK listed banks, that until the end of 2020 we will undertake no quarterly or interim dividend payments, accrual of dividends, or share buybacks on ordinary shares in order to improve further our capacity to serve the needs of businesses and households through the extraordinary challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.
These are difficult decisions and, while we recognise the disappointment and frustration this causes our shareholders, in particular those relying on dividends for income, we agreed that this was a prudent and appropriate response to what were and are exceptional circumstances. The Board will decide on any dividend distributions or buybacks on ordinary shares in respect of 2020 at year end, in line with the approved dividend policy.
In conjunction with this decision and in solidarity with the communities in which we operate, the whole of the Group Executive Committee have asked not to be considered for their Group Performance Share for 2020, meaning that they will give up all of their bonus entitlement for 2020. In addition, no cash bonuses are payable to senior staff for the rest of 2020.
https://www.investegate.co.uk/lloyds-ba ... 00105412U/
Part 2 here;
https://www.investegate.co.uk/lloyds-ba ... 00105413U/
