Lloyds Banking Group, the British government-controlled banking giant, said today it would cut nearly 1,000 jobs over the next two years.
Changes to the group's asset and motor finance divisions will 'result in the loss of 910 full-time jobs which affects 985 full and part-time colleagues over a two-year period,' Lloyds said.
LBG said it was consolidating the motor finance businesses of HBOS and Lloyds TSB, which merged to create the new group, and added that all staff who would be impacted by the decision had already been briefed by their managers.
Last month, the British government said it was taking a majority stake in the banking group and would guarantee its toxic assets, increasing its ownership from 43% to 65%.
LBG was created in January when Lloyds TSB bought rival lender HBOS, which faced collapse because it was struggling to raise funds due to the credit crunch.
Barclays has 'good start' to 2009
Meanwhile, another British bank Barclays said today it would post better results in the first quarter this year than in the same period of 2008 despite the global financial crisis and a deep recession in Britain.
'We've had a good start to the year,' said Barclays chief executive John Varley in a trading statement published ahead of the group's annual general meeting in London.
The bank, which publishes first-quarter results on May 7, added that it was committed to try to resume shareholder dividend payments in the second half of the year.
Unlike several rival banks, Barclays has spurned government funds and instead secured extra capital last year from investors in Abu Dhabi and Qatar to protect its finances from the credit crunch.
