A Lloyds TSB bank sign hangs outside a branch in London on May 5, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Suzanne PlunkettBy Sudip Kar-Gupta and Steve SlaterLONDON | Thursday, June 30, 2011 5: 17 am EDT
London (Reuters) - Lloyds will cut 15,000 jobs and reduce by half its international presence, a plan of his new boss hopes will save 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) per year by 2014 and return Bank British part-nationalised back to health.
Executive Chef Antonio Horta-Osorio presented his redesign of the Bank on Thursday after about 100 days in charge and says it aims to cut middle management and making the Bank more agile and more simple.
The latest cuts will add to 27,000 job losses already since the financial crisis of 2008. Lloyds currently employs approximately 103,000 staff.
The cost of the program will be £ 2.3 billion, but economies raised will enable the Bank to invest an additional $ 2 billion books in its activities of core retail banking.
Horta-Osorio will reduce the international presence of Lloyds within 15 countries by 2014 30 now to focus more on its UK-based retail banking activities - where it is the market leader and has always been much more important that its overseas reach.
Presence overseas of Lloyds currently includes operations in Europe, such as the Netherlands, the Germany and the Spain, Northern, and in Asia and South America. Horta-Osorio, which Lloyds poached rival Santander UK, refused to say what countries Lloyds leave.
Union group unit attacked the job cut plans, but Horta-Osorio, said that the move was necessary.
"We must return to profitability as quickly as possible." "I think that we need to become leaner, more agile and responsive to the needs of our customers", he told reporters in a conference call.
Lloyds shares rose sharply as analysts and investors welcomed the plans of the Horta Osorio. 0855 GMT stock was 9.5 per cent to 48.9 pence, the best-performing stock on benchmark FTSE 100 of Britain.
"It looks like the third time lucky for the days of strategy of the United Kingdom banks - Lloyds has delivered solid targets with some key milestones," said Mike Trippitt, Oriel Securities analyst.
Said Trippitt control strategy of Lloyds compared favourably with other these days of strategy held by HSBC and Barclays, which targets ends up disappointing rival investors.
SALES BRANCH
Lloyds plus one in the world and a darling of the sector in the 1990s for his dynamic policy control, profitability and returns massive, but its strategy for growth and the impasse after it was blocked by regulators of the purchase of old building Abbey National in 2001.
Known as the "Black Horse" after its logo, it was screened with billions of pounds of losses after it purchased troubled rival HBOS, at the height of the 2008 credit crisis, an agreement negotiated by the Labour Government of the time.
His losses led to it being to the rescue and owned in part by the Government, with Royal Bank of Scotland, and Great Britain finished with a game from 41% to Lloyds and 83% of RBS.
As payback to be bailed out by taxpayers, European regulators ordered Lloyds to sell 630 branches, even though a British banking commission said, that he could sell more to increase competition.
Lloyds said that it is on the right track to find a buyer for the assets at the end of the year.
Virgin Money, new business bank UK NBNK and the National Bank of the Australia are likely bidders for these branches, while there was speculation that the assets can also draw interest from European and Asian banks.
The HBOS agreement gave Lloyds the Affairs of the Halifax Retail Bank and CEO Horta-Osorio said that Lloyds planned to cultivate this brand as part of a plan to "revitalize" Lloyds.
Bancassurance, which includes the insurance unit of the Scottish Widows Lloyds, will be also part of the Group and Lloyds said that he expected restart progressive dividend, once it is authorized to do so. The earlier in which it may restart dividends is 2012.
Lloyds shares remain below the level of 63.1 pence in which the British taxpayer has acquired its stake in the Bank.
SVM Asset Management head Colin McLean said Lloyds and other banks remain vulnerable to their increasing exposure indebted European countries such as the Ireland and the costs of regulation and were therefore stocks to avoid for the moment.
"It is still not enough clarity on the banking sector and their capital and funding positions", he said.
($ 1 = 0,626 GBP)
(Other reports by Tommy Wilkes;) (Editing by Sophie Walker)
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