Lloyds shares out £4billion

Bank faces future ‘with confidence’

BANK giant Lloyds yesterday shrugged off Brexit fears as it announced a £4billion boost for shareholders.

Boss Antonio Horta-Osorio said he was still betting on Prime Minister Theresa May clinching a last-gasp deal with the EU.

But he insisted: “Irrespective of that, our business model is the right one and we face the future with confidence, otherwise we would not be ramping up investment in this business.”

Lloyds Banking Group, as the UK’s biggest retail bank and mortgage lender, is more exposed than most to any sharp downturn in the economy.

But it is ploughing £1billion into beefing up bits of the group, including its digital arm. However, it also closed 108 branches last year.

Lloyds yesterday confirmed a full year ordinary dividend of 3.21p per share, up five per cent on 2017, equating to a total of £2.3billion.

The bank has a large retail investor base, with an average shareholder with 6000 shares set to get just under £200.

They will also benefit from a share buyback worth up to £1.75billion. Lloyds’ annual profits jumped 13 per cent to £6billion. But it had to set aside another £750million for PPI compensation, taking its total to almost £20billion.

The bank also revealed its boardroom pay, showing Horta-Osorio pocketed £6.3million. That included a £1.2million salary and bonuses.

Lloyds’ share price is still around the same level as when Horta-Osorio became chief executive in 2011.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “That’s because Lloyds is indelibly plugged into the UK economy, and the shadow cast by Brexit means the bank’s shares are left out in the cold.”