Lloyds warns more pain to come after £3.5bn loss

Lloyds Banking Group has reported a pre-tax loss of £3.5bn for 2011, while warning shareholders to prepare for more pain as it forecasts a decline in revenues for 2012.

The lender, which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, posted the loss after being forced to put aside a £3.2bn provision for PPI claims. This compared to a £281m pre-tax profit in 2010. Excluding PPI and the other charges, Lloyds said profit before tax stood at £2.7bn profit in 2011, up by over a fifth on 2010. Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said he expects 2012 to be a challenging year on both the regulatory and economic fronts. "We expect the external environment to remain challenging in 2012, with a subdued economy, continued high levels of regulatory scrutiny and political unce...