£15m bonus payout as Northern Rock cuts losses

The bank reported a pre-tax shortfall of 257.5m for the 12 months to December 31, compared with a 1.36bn loss in 2008.

Northern Rock, which completed its restructure into "good" and "bad" banks at the turn of the year, said the bonus payment came after staff met agreed objectives over the year.

Chief executive Gary Hoffman waived his entitlement to a bonus under the scheme and the bank said it was designing a reward scheme for him that would take into account the performances of both of the newly created banks.