Tuesday June 9, 01:41 PM
British bank Lloyds axes 1,660 more jobs
By Roland Jackson
LONDON (AFP) - Britain's state-controlled Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY.L - news) is shedding up to 1,660 more jobs as it shuts Cheltenham & Gloucester retail branches in November, ending 150 years of history, it said on Tuesday.
"LBG is announcing a number of organisational changes, primarily in its retail division," the group said in a statement. "Up to 1,660 full time jobs will be affected by these changes," it added.
Lloyds, which is 43-percent owned by the government after a huge bailout, said it would shut its network of 164 C&G branches but would continue to offer products, such as mortgages, under the C&G brand.
"The C&G branch network will close in November as C&G focuses on building its significant mortgage and savings direct and intermediary businesses," it added.
"Cheltenham & Gloucester customers will continue to be able to manage their accounts at any of Lloyds TSB's more than 1,800 branches, over the phone and by post."
LBG has now slashed more than 4,500 jobs -- 3.0 percent of its workforce -- since its creation in January, when Lloyds TSB bought rival lender HBOS which had faced collapse as the credit crunch hit its ability to raise funds.
Tuesday's announcement marks the disappearance of Cheltenham & Gloucester from the British high street, ending its 150-year presence.
C&G traces its roots back to 1896, when it was founded in Cheltenham, southwestern England, as the Cheltenham & Gloucestershire Permanent Mutual Benefit Building and Investment Association.
Building societies, or mutuals, specialise in home loans and are owned by their members and are not listed on the stock exchange. They were granted the right to convert into banks in the 1980s, sparking a wave of demutualisations.
C&G converted into a bank in 1995 and was subsequently bought by Lloyds, before its merger with rival group TSB.
Tuesday's news comes just weeks after Spanish group Santander (Madrid: SAN.MC - news) revealed it would rename its British banking divisions Abbey, Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL.L - news) and Bradford & Bingley under the Santader banner by the end of 2010.
On Monday, LBG said buyers had snapped up all of its heavily discounted new shares to raise 4.0 billion pounds (4.6 billion euros, 6.3 billion dollars).
LBG had launched the rights issue last month to repay part of its bailout by the British government.
Lloyds TSB management has been sharply criticised for the purchase of HBOS, which was saddled with billions of pounds in toxic assets that have had to be covered by government money.
HBOS suffered massive losses as a result of high-risk investments which plunged in value amid a deepening recession in Britain.
Andy Hornby, in charge of HBOS at the time of its collapse, was on Monday appointed chief executive of Europe's biggest pharmacy chain, Britain's Alliance Boots (LSE: AB.L - news) , owned by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).
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