Lloyds Bank survived thanks to the loyalty of its customers – and now we are ready to help the public prosper
The chief exec tells The Sun of his determination to make Lloyds even better
LLOYDS BANK returned fully to private hands yesterday, with boss António Horta-Osório saying he was proud to return “every penny” to taxpayers and make them a profit.
The Government has finally sold off all of its original 43 per cent stake in the bailed-out bank.
Lloyds said taxpayers had made an £894million profit on the £20.3billion rescue package of 2008.
Chief exec Mr Horta-Osório tells The Sun of his determination to make Lloyds even better.
It pledges to continue supporting households and firms as part of its Helping Britain Prosper Plan.
‘We are now back working for the people’
WHEN I took over Lloyds in March 2011 this great, centuries-old institution was on its knees.
Yes, the taxpayer had rescued Lloyds with a £20billion lifeline after the purchase of HBOS went wrong at the height of the financial crisis.
But it wasn’t enough. The meltdown in the eurozone and a weak economy at home meant our situation was getting worse.
A third of our loans were toxic. We were receiving substantial liquidity support from the Bank of England and borrowing every day from the markets just to keep going.
A stiff breeze could have knocked us over. The collapse of Lloyds Banking Group would have been disastrous for the economy and for Sun readers.
Since then we have turned the bank around.
Thanks to the support of the taxpayer, the loyalty of our customers and the hard work of our staff, we are back on our feet.
I am proud that we have repaid every penny you lent us — with an extra nearly £900million on top.
We are again back in full private ownership.
We will never forget the debt we owe the public.
That’s why I have committed Lloyds Banking Group to helping Britain prosper. We are back doing what we had always done: working for the people.
Our plan for the UK means we are one of the biggest lenders to small businesses. We are the biggest mortgage provider to first-time buyers.
And because our customers are changing how they bank, we are now Britain’s biggest digital bank.
Six years ago we had no mobile banking customers: now we have more than eight million.
Of course, our job is not done. We are not complacent. Lloyds has a plan to Help Britain Prosper.
My team and I are determined to deliver it.