Lloyds could be forced to write off a further swath of loans made by HBOS to hundreds of companies, after figures showed many of the loans are worth only a fraction of their original value.
From the Guardian:
Lloyds could be forced to write off a further swath of loans made by HBOS to hundreds of companies, after figures showed many of the loans are worth only a fraction of their original value.
The troubled bank has made huge loans to commercial property developers, hotel chains and leisure companies, and is expected to wipe hundreds of millions of pounds off the value of its loan book, in addition to the £10bn Lloyds struck off its balance sheet last week, as the economy worsens and many of the businesses that borrowed money go bust.
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Analysts blamed the bank for expanding its lending at the height of the credit boom, leaving it over-exposed to commercial businesses that could go under in a prolonged downturn. Between the end of 2005 and December 2007, its corporate lending jumped from £79bn to £109bn, backing deals including the £350m acquisition of the cinema chain Vue Entertainment in 2006 and a management buyout of the shirt retailer TM Lewin & Sons.
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