Lloyds posts £570m loss in 2012 as government 'prepares to sell stake'

Lloyds Banking Group reported a loss for the full year to December 2012, much lower than the heavy losses seen the previous year, as reports suggest the UK government is gearing up to sell its stake in the bank.

The 40% taxpayer owned bank posted a loss of £570m for 2012, down from £3.5bn in 2011. Lloyds blamed the cost of PPI claims for the fall - it set aside £1.5bn to cover PPI in the fourth quarter alone. Last week, Lloyds was fined £4.3m for delaying compensation payments to customers over PPI mis-selling. PPI mis-selling has already cost the bank more than £5bn. The group posted underlying profit before tax of £2.6bn, up from £638m in 2011. This reflected a reduction in losses in Lloyds' non-core business and stable profitability in the core business, it said. Income fell by 13% to £...