Halifax's key role in Lloyds' recovery

The taxpayer-backed lender said bottom line profits surged last year from the Â£1.64bn reported in 2015 following lower costs of compensation for the payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal. The bank said that Halifax was a key contributor to group profits.'‹'‹Halifax'‹'s '‹managing '‹d'‹irector'‹ '‹'‹'‹Russell Galley'‹ said: "'‹We have seen a strong overall performance as a brand and grown market shares across our core products in line with our strategy. Halifax has made a significant contribution to the overall '‹g'‹roup results and we are in good shape for 2017.'‹"Halifax now has 12.5'‹ '‹million active online banking users and '‹it is responding to their evolving behaviour'‹ by investing in its online operation.'‹"'‹We’re working hard to help make customers better off whether they bank with us online or visit our branches'‹," said Mr Galley.'‹The Halifax Savers Prize Draw '‹is continuing to attract custom and there have been more than 65,000 winners since the first ever draw in 2011, with the total prize money in the past five years topping Â£40'‹m'‹. The draw has rewarded more than'‹ '‹1,100 Halifax savings customers e'‹ach'‹ month.'‹It is also seeing strong demand from customers who are disgruntled with their bank and attracted over 200,000 current account switchers in 2016'‹.Halifax is now one of the largest mortgage lenders to first-time buyers'‹.'‹ '‹"We helped'‹ more than 75,000 '‹buyers '‹take their first step on to the property ladder'‹," said Mr Galley.'‹"'‹We are continuing to lend at 95'‹ per cent'‹ following the end of the '‹G'‹overnment’s Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme.'‹"Halifax said it has seen good returns from its TV advertising campaign.'‹“The successful Top Cat ad campaign made Halifax the only bank to feature in Adwatch’s most memorable ads of 2016'‹," said Mr Galley'‹. '‹"'‹Other popular characters, including Fred Flintstone and Scooby Doo have helped us shout loud and proud about what Halifax stands for. Our purpose is simple – to make our customers better off.”Lloyds as a group is moving on from mis-selling scandals and its Government bailout in the financial crisis.Its '‹2016 '‹profit'‹ was the biggest since 2006 and comes as it puts the PPI saga and taxpayer bailout behind it, with the Government now holding a stake of less than 5'‹ per cent. Lloyds is set to fully return to private hands by the summer.'‹Lloyds did sound a note of caution about the future, saying its performance '‹i'‹s "inextricably linked to the health of the UK economy", which faces an uncertain outlook amid Brexit negotiations, while the impact of the referendum was laid bare on bonus payouts.A remuneration report released by Lloyds showed chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio's total pay package fell to Â£5.5'‹m'‹ last year from Â£8.7'‹m in 2015 due to a cut in his long-term shares award after the stock took a battering following the Brexit vote.The incentive payout fell from Â£5.18'‹m in 2015 to Â£1.58'‹m last year.But his short-term bonus r'‹ose'‹ from Â£850,000 to Â£1.2'‹m and his base salary will increase by 8'‹ per cent'‹ in 2017 to Â£1.2'‹m, the first raise since he joined in 2011.Staff at the bank will share a bonus pool worth Â£393'‹m, which is 11'‹ per cent'‹ higher than in 2015.Lloyds said on an underlying basis, profits fell 3'‹ per cent'‹ to Â£7.9'‹bn.It did not set aside any further cash for PPI, having taken a Â£1'‹bn charge in the third quarter.'‹The group revealed another Â£475'‹m hit in the final three months of 2016 for other conduct charges, such as for packaged account mis-selling, taking its total conduct provisions for the year to Â£2.1'‹bn.