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London - Britain's state-rescued bank Lloyds said Thursday that it cut net losses in 2013 and ramped up staff bonuses, but its performance was hit by a vast mis-selling compensation bill.
Losses after tax stood at £838m ($1.39bn, €1.01bn) last year, compared with a net loss of £1.471bn in 2012, Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) said in a results statement.
The lender took a vast provision of £3.5bn, primarily relating to compensation for customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance.
Earlier this month, the bank had already warned that it would take an extra hit of almost £2.0bn to cover mis-selling claims.
Lloyds, which is 33% owned by the taxpayer after a bailout at the height of the global financial crisis, added that revenues dipped slightly to £18.5bn in 2013.
Underlying profit more than doubled to about £6.2bn, in line with previous guidance, as it was boosted partly by asset sales as part of its ongoing restructuring.
Lloyds added that chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio was in line for a deferred shares bonus of £1.7m for 2013. The lender also lifted its staff bonus pool by eight percent to £395m.
"Over the last three years we have reshaped, strengthened and simplified our business to create a low-risk efficient retail and commercial bank that is focused on our customers and on helping Britain prosper," Horta-Osorio said in the earnings release.
"These results, with group underlying profit more than doubled to £6.2bn, confirm that the group is returning to robust health, thanks to the commitment of our people and the consistent execution of the strategy we set out in June 2011."
