Final Results - Part 3

Lloyds TSB Group PLC 16 February 2001 Part 3 LLOYDS TSB GROUP International net interest income Net interest income from international operations increased by £2 million to £631 million, representing 14 per cent of total group net interest income. Underlying growth on a local currency basis was largely offset by a £14 million reduction caused by exchange rate movements. Average interest-earning assets on a local currency basis increased by 7 per cent, helped by growth in our New Zealand mortgage portfolio, but this increase was partly offset by the effect of exchange rate movements. The international net interest margin decreased by 16 basis points to 3.03 per cent. Whilst the interest spread held up well, the gross yield on interest-earning assets fell significantly as a result of lower interest rates in Latin America. 2000 1999 £m £m Net interest income 631 629 Average balances Short-term liquid assets 1,224 1,000 Loans and advances 17,461 16,980 Debt securities 2,110 1,766 Total interest-earning assets 20,795 19,746 Financed by: Interest-bearing liabilities 19,128 18,116 Interest-free liabilities 1,667 1,630 Average rates % % Gross yield on interest-earning assets 10.23 12.34 Cost of interest-bearing liabilities 7.82 9.98 Interest spread 2.41 2.36 Contribution of interest-free liabilities 0.62 0.83 Net interest margin 3.03 3.19 Page 31 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP Other income Other income increased by £737 million, or 23 per cent, to £3,882 million. This represented 46 per cent of total income. Scottish Widows contributed £317 million of this increase. Excluding short-term fluctuations in investment returns in our insurance businesses, changes in the economic assumptions applied to our long-term assurance business, pension provisions and the stakeholder pension related charge in 2000, other income increased by £837 million, or 26 per cent, to £4,054 million. Fees and commissions receivable increased by 11 per cent reflecting increased business volumes and strong growth in income from insurance broking. Other UK fees and commissions increased by 20 per cent, as a result of growth in all core UK businesses and the impact of the acquisition of Scottish Widows. International fees and commissions increased by 6 per cent. Fees and commissions payable increased by £53 million against 1999, largely as a result of higher interchange fees for card services and increased costs associated with a number of new products. Income from long-term assurance business increased by £388 million, largely as a result of the impact of the acquisition of Scottish Widows. General insurance premium income on underwritten business increased by £9 million, or 2 per cent, against 1999. Other operating income increased by £139 million, largely reflecting the acquisition of Chartered Trust and increased operating lease rental income within Lloyds TSB Leasing. There were also higher gains on the realisation of venture capital investments. 2000 1999 £m £m Fees and commissions receivable: UK current account fees 629 663 Other UK fees and commissions 1,171 978 Insurance broking 398 327 Card services 304 279 International fees and commissions 266 250 2,768 2,497 Fees and commissions payable (479) (426) Dealing profits (before expenses): Foreign exchange trading income 141 133 Securities and other gains 57 82 198 215 Income from long-term assurance business: Income before pension provisions 715 329 Pension provisions (100) (102) 615 227 General insurance premium income 399 390 Other operating income 381 242 Total other income 3,882 3,145 Page 32 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP OPERATING EXPENSES Operating expenses 2000 1999 £m £m Administrative expenses: Staff: Salaries and profit sharing 1,626 1,500 National insurance 131 125 Pensions (105) (108) Restructuring 47 20 Other staff costs 189 180 1,888 1,717 Premises and equipment: Rent and rates 247 250 Hire of equipment 26 33 Repairs and maintenance 115 107 Other 109 100 497 490 Other expenses: Communications and external data processing 394 406 Advertising and promotion 167 113 Professional fees 126 90 Other 306 324 993 933 Administrative expenses 3,378 3,140 Exceptional restructuring costs 188 - Total administrative expenses 3,566 3,140 Depreciation 364 265 Amortisation of goodwill 22 12 Total operating expenses 3,952 3,417 Efficiency ratio 46.7% 43.1% Efficiency ratio * 43.6% 42.7% * excluding short-term fluctuations in investment returns, changes in economic assumptions, exceptional restructuring costs, pension provisions and stakeholder pension related charge Total operating expenses increased by £535 million, or 16 per cent, compared with 1999. On a like-for-like basis, excluding exceptional restructuring costs of £188 million, increased costs following the acquisitions of Scottish Widows and Chartered Trust of £117 million, and additional investments in revenue growth businesses and e-commerce of £224 million (1999: £44 million), costs increased by 1 per cent to £3,423 million, from £3,373 million in 1999, less than the underlying rate of inflation. Reduced costs in many areas were offset by higher staff costs, partly reflecting an increased accrual for profit sharing and millennium weekend overtime costs, increased advertising costs and a higher depreciation charge. Page 33 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP Operating expenses (continued) The exceptional restructuring costs of £188 million comprise mainly severance, consultancy costs, the write-down of equipment and the £21 million Chartered Trust restructuring provision. During 2001 we expect restructuring costs relating to the efficiency programme to be approximately £200 million, reducing to approximately £130 million in 2002 and £60 million in 2003. Annualised cost benefits resulting from these investments are expected to total approximately £75 million in 2001 rising to £410 million in 2004. Expenditure on e-commerce in 2001 is expected to be similar to 2000 at approximately £150 million, and we will also spend £100 million in 2001 to deliver our new wealth management strategies. Overall, the individual programmes associated with these costs are expected to achieve average payback within three years. The efficiency ratio was 46.7 per cent compared to 43.1 per cent a year ago. Excluding short-term fluctuations in investment returns, changes in the economic assumptions applied to our long- term assurance business, exceptional restructuring costs, pension provisions and the stakeholder pension related charge in 2000, the efficiency ratio deteriorated slightly to 43.6 per cent, from 42.7 per cent in 1999. Page 34 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP Number of employees (full-time equivalent) Staff numbers increased by 1,484 to 77,540 during 2000. Excluding an increase of 3,061 staff following the acquisition of Scottish Widows, an increase of 1,775 staff following the acquisition of Chartered Trust and a reduction of 584 on the disposal of the new business capacity of Abbey Life, staff numbers decreased by 2,768. Within UK Retail Banking staff numbers decreased by 287 despite improvements to customer service and a substantial increase in our call centre capability. In Insurance and Investments numbers of staff increased to reflect the acquisition of Scottish Widows, in Wholesale Markets staff numbers increased by 1,245, reflecting the acquisition of Chartered Trust, and in International Banking there were lower staff numbers in Brazil and New Zealand. Since the merger of Lloyds Bank and TSB Group at the end of 1995, there has been an underlying reduction of 20,076 staff of which 5,407 relate to staff employed in businesses sold and 14,669 to reductions in our ongoing businesses. 31 31 December December 2000 1999 UK Retail Banking* 45,371 45,658 Mortgages 3,657 3,669 Insurance and Investments 6,420 5,187 Wholesale Markets 8,339 7,094 International Banking 12,563 13,223 Other 1,190 1,225 Total number of employees (full-time equivalent) 77,540 76,056 * Although the costs of distributing mortgages and insurance through the Lloyds TSB network are allocated to the mortgage and insurance businesses, the number of employees involved in these activities in the networks is included under UK Retail Banking. Page 35 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP CREDIT QUALITY Charge for bad and doubtful debts 2000 1999 £m £m Domestic: UK Retail Banking 345 428 Mortgages (13) (3) Wholesale Markets 94 75 Total domestic 426 500 International Banking 49 88 Total charge 475 588 Specific provisions 481 588 General provisions (6) - Total charge 475 588 Charge as % of average lending: % % Domestic 0.45 0.57 International 0.32 0.60 Total charge 0.43 0.57 The total charge for bad and doubtful debts decreased to £475 million from £588 million. The domestic charge decreased to £426 million from £500 million largely due to the good economic conditions during 2000, and a one-off benefit of £42 million arising from a change in methodology for retail provisioning to recognise more accurately the amount that the Group expects to recover. Provisions overseas decreased to £49 million from £88 million, mainly as a result of higher Emerging Market Debt provision releases, which offset higher provisions in Argentina. Page 36 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP Movements in provisions for bad and doubtful debts 2000 1999 Specific General Specific General £m £m £m £m At 1 January 1,762 361 1,792 365 Exchange and other adjustments 111 (2) (4) (4) Adjustments on acquisition 45 4 - - Advances written off (748) - (744) - Recoveries of advances written off in previous years 165 - 130 - Charge (release) to profit and loss account: New and additional provisions 1,093 7 1,087 7 Releases and recoveries (612) (13) (499) (7) 481 (6) 588 - At 31 December 1,816 357 1,762 361 2,173 2,123 Closing provisions as % of lending (excluding unapplied interest) Specific: Domestic 774 (0.8%) 773 (0.9%) International 1,042 (6.5%) 989 (6.6%) 1,816 (1.6%) 1,762 (1.7%) General 357 (0.3%) 361 (0.3%) Total 2,173 (1.9%) 2,123 (2.0%) At the end of 2000 provisions for bad and doubtful debts totalled £2,173 million. This represented 1.9 per cent of total lending. The level of specific provisions increased to £1,816 million. Non-performing lending increased to £1,283 million from £1,088 million in December 1999, largely reflecting the acquisition of Chartered Trust, and represented 1.1 per cent of total lending, compared with 1.0 per cent in December 1999. At the end of the year, specific provisions represented over 140 per cent of non-performing loans. Page 37 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP CAPITAL RATIOS Risk asset ratios 31 31 December December 2000 1999* £m £m Capital Tier 1 7,662 8,348 Tier 2 7,579 6,838 15,241 15,186 Supervisory deductions (6,862) (2,588) Total capital 8,379 12,598 £bn £bn Risk-weighted assets UK Retail Banking 17.4 15.7 Mortgages 26.6 24.0 Insurance and Investments 0.2 0.1 UK Retail Financial Services 44.2 39.8 Wholesale Markets 36.5 31.6 International Banking 11.9 11.6 Central group items 0.9 1.1 Total risk-weighted assets 93.5 84.1 Post-tax return on average risk-weighted assets 3.14% 3.02% Risk asset ratios Total capital 9.0% 15.0% Tier 1 8.2% 9.9% * restated (page 40, note 1) At the end of December 2000 the risk asset ratios were 9.0 per cent for total capital and 8.2 per cent for tier 1 capital. The 8.2 per cent tier 1 capital ratio appears higher than would perhaps be expected for the Group. This reflects the higher level of supervisory deductions resulting from Lloyds TSB's significantly increased investment in life assurance following the acquisition of Scottish Widows. In 2000, following the acquisitions of Scottish Widows and Chartered Trust, total capital for regulatory purposes fell by £4,219 million to £8,379 million. Tier 1 capital was reduced by £686 million, as retained profits and the raising of the necessary capital required to complete the purchases of Scottish Widows and Chartered Trust was offset by the £2.4 billion goodwill arising on the acquisitions. Tier 2 capital increased by £741 million and supervisory deductions increased by £4,274 million, largely resulting from the acquisition of the Scottish Widows insurance business. Risk-weighted assets increased to £93.5 billion and the post-tax return on average risk-weighted assets, a key measure of efficient use of capital, improved to 3.14 per cent from 3.02 per cent in 1999. Page 38 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP BALANCE SHEET INFORMATION Total assets Total assets increased by £42 billion, or 24 per cent, from the end of 1999 of which £25 billion represented an increase in long- term assurance liabilities to policyholders following the acquisition of Scottish Widows (page 13). Over the last 12 months, loans and advances to customers increased by £12 billion, or 12 per cent, to £114 billion. 31 31 December December Deposits - customer accounts 2000 1999 £m £m Sterling: Non-interest bearing current accounts 5,504 6,012 Interest bearing current accounts 18,221 17,461 Savings and investment accounts 45,972 41,330 Other customer deposits 16,682 14,696 Total sterling 86,379 79,499 Currency 14,359 13,352 Total deposits - customer accounts 100,738 92,851 Loans and advances to customers Domestic: Agriculture,forestry and fishing 2,026 2,183 Manufacturing 3,357 3,262 Construction 1,016 754 Transport, distribution and hotels 3,836 3,540 Property companies 2,470 2,303 Financial, business and other services 9,295 6,614 Personal : mortgages 52,659 47,451 : other 11,138 10,092 Lease financing 8,070 8,369 Hire purchase 5,172 3,674 Other 2,237 1,698 Total domestic 101,276 89,940 International: Latin America 3,016 2,558 New Zealand 7,368 7,659 Rest of the world 5,002 4,159 Total international 15,386 14,376 116,662 104,316 Provisions for bad and doubtful debts* (2,117) (2,067) Interest held in suspense (90) (100) Total loans and advances to customers 114,455 102,149 * Excluding provisions relating to loans and advances to banks Page 39 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP NOTES 1. Accounting policies and presentation During the year, the Group implemented the requirements of Financial Reporting Standard 15, 'Tangible Fixed Assets'; this has resulted in two changes. The Group's freehold and long leasehold premises were previously included in the balance sheet at the last valuation on the basis of existing use value. Following the implementation of the new standard the Group's premises will no longer be revalued, and a prior year adjustment has been made to restate the carrying value to historical cost. This has resulted in the carrying value of tangible fixed assets as at 1 January 1999 being reduced by £112 million and an equivalent adjustment being made against reserves. The effect of this change upon the Group's profit and loss account is not significant. In addition, the Group has reassessed the useful economic lives and residual values of its freehold and long leasehold premises and with effect from 1 January 2000, the cost of these properties, after deducting the value of land, is being depreciated over 50 years. Previously it was considered that the residual values were such that depreciation was not significant. The effect of this change has been to increase the depreciation charge in 2000 by £8 million. The Group has also changed its presentation of assets held for leasing to customers under operating lease agreements. These assets are now included within tangible fixed assets and depreciation charged over their estimated useful economic lives. Rental income received from customers is included within other operating income. Operating lease assets were previously included within loans and advances and the related income within net interest income. This change has no effect on profit before tax. The effect of this change on the balance sheet has been to increase tangible fixed assets by £1,280 million and reduce loans and advances to customers by an equivalent amount (31 December 1999: £479 million). Comparative figures have been restated. 2. Economic profit In pursuit of our aim to maximise shareholder value, we use a system of value based management as a framework to identify and measure value in order to help us to make better business decisions. Accounting profit is of limited use as a measure of value creation and performance as it ignores the cost of the equity capital that has to be invested to generate the profit. We choose economic profit as a measure of performance because it captures both growth in investment and return. Economic profit represents the difference between the earnings on the equity invested in a business and the cost of the equity. Our calculation of economic profit uses average equity for the year and is based on a cost of equity of 9 per cent (1999: 9 per cent). Economic profit instils a rigorous financial discipline in determining investment decisions throughout the Group. It enables us to evaluate alternative strategies objectively, with a clear understanding of the value created by each strategy, and then to select the strategy which creates the greatest value. Page 40 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP 3. Earnings per share 2000 1999 Basic Profit attributable to shareholders £2,724m £2,514m Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 5,487m 5,445m Earnings per share 49.6p 46.2p Fully diluted Profit attributable to shareholders £2,724m £2,514m Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 5,545m 5,546m Earnings per share 49.1p 45.3p 4. Tax The effective rate of tax was 28.6 per cent (1999: 30.4 per cent), compared with an average UK corporation tax rate for 2000 of 30 per cent (1999: 30.25 per cent). The lower effective rate of tax, compared with the standard tax rate of 30 per cent, is largely due to tax relief on payments to the QUEST to satisfy Save As You Earn options, and gains on disposals of investments and properties sheltered by capital losses. 5. Sale and closure of businesses 2000 1999 £m £m Provision for closure of Lloyds TSB Securities Services (tax: nil) - (28) Provision for sale of Abbey Life new business capability (tax: nil) (including £80 million in respect of goodwill previously written off to reserves, and other asset write-offs) - (98) - (126) 6. Scottish Widows On 3 March 2000, the Group completed the transfer of the business of Scottish Widows' Fund and Life Assurance Society to its wholly owned subsidiaries Scottish Widows plc and Scottish Widows Annuities Limited. The consideration for the transfer of £5.8 billion to policyholders was paid in August. Goodwill of £1.8 billion has been capitalised and included in the Group's balance sheet. In view of the strength of the Scottish Widows brand and the position of the business as one of the leading providers of life, pensions, unit trust and fund management products, in the opinion of the directors the useful economic life of the goodwill is indefinite and, consequently, no amortisation charge has been included in the Group's results. Page 41 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP 7. Chartered Trust On 1 September 2000, the Group announced that its subsidiary, Lloyds UDT, had acquired Chartered Trust Group Plc and ACL Autolease Holdings Limited, ('Chartered Trust'), the UK consumer finance and contract hire subsidiaries of Standard Chartered Bank, for a cash consideration of £614 million. A restructuring provision of £21 million has been made to cover the costs of integrating Chartered Trust and Lloyds UDT. 8. Short-term fluctuations in investment returns In accordance with generally accepted accounting practice in the UK, it is the Group's accounting policy to carry the investments comprising the reserves held by its life companies at market value. In the past, this has not had a significant impact upon the Group's results because of the limited reserves necessary to support the predominantly unit linked business of Lloyds TSB Life Assurance and Abbey Life. However, the reserves held to support the with-profits business of Scottish Widows are substantial and changes in market values will result in significant volatility in the Group's embedded value earnings. Consequently, in order to provide a clearer representation of the underlying performance, the results of the life and pensions business have been analysed between an operating profit, which includes investment earnings calculated using longer-term rates of investment return, and a profit before tax, separately identifying the short-term fluctuations in investment returns and other one-off items. This approach is already established practice amongst listed insurance companies in the UK. The longer-term rates of return for the period are consistent with those used by the Group in the calculation of the embedded value at the beginning of the period, which were 8.00 per cent for equities and 5.25 per cent for gilts. These are based upon a long-term view of economic activity and are therefore not adjusted for market movements which are considered to be short term. This approach is considered the most appropriate given the long-term nature of the portfolio of products and achieves consistency in reporting from one period to the next. Lloyds TSB General Insurance also holds investments to support its underwriting business; these are carried at market value and gains and losses included within dealing profits. Consistent with the approach adopted for the life and pensions business, an operating profit for the general insurance business has been calculated including investment earnings normalised using the same long-term rates of return. Page 42 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP 9. Changes in the economic assumptions applied to our long-term assurance business The shareholders' interest in the long-term assurance business ('embedded value') is calculated on the basis of a series of economic and actuarial assumptions. Following the acquisition of the business of Scottish Widows, a detailed review of the economic assumptions used in the embedded value calculation has been carried out, to ensure that these assumptions remain appropriate for the enlarged life and pensions business in the context of forecast long-term economic trends. As a result of this review certain assumptions have been amended, including the risk-adjusted discount rate which has been reduced from 10 per cent to 8.5 per cent. The revised assumptions, which have been used with effect from 1 January 2000 for Abbey Life and the bancassurance operation of Lloyds TSB Life, have resulted in a one-off credit to the profit and loss account of £127 million. The same assumptions have been used for the Scottish Widows business from the date of acquisition. 10.Exceptional restructuring costs Exceptional restructuring costs totalling £188 million were charged to the 2000 profit and loss account. The majority of these costs related to an efficiency programme announced in February 2000 but there was also a £21 million restructuring provision to cover the costs of integrating Chartered Trust and Lloyds UDT. The main features of the efficiency programme, which is primarily focused on non-customer facing activities, are: - - the centralisation of computer operations - the further consolidation of all our large scale processing operations and support functions including the complete removal of all back office processing from branches - the further streamlining of the branch network, combined with the expansion of lower cost delivery channels such as telephone banking and internet operations - the further reduction of our purchasing costs - the rationalisation of non-personal banking activities, through the progressive sharing and consolidation of operational functions. During 2000, the restructuring costs relating to the efficiency programme comprised mainly severance, consultancy costs, and the write-down of equipment. During 2001 we expect restructuring costs relating to the efficiency programme to be approximately £200 million, reducing to approximately £130 million in 2002 and £60 million in 2003. Annualised cost benefits resulting from these investments are expected to total approximately £75 million in 2001 rising to £410 million in 2004. Overall, the individual programmes associated with these costs are expected to achieve average payback within three years. Page 43 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP 11.Dividend A final dividend for 2000 of 21.3p per share (1999: 18.5p) will be paid on 2 May, making a total for the year of 30.6p (1999: 26.6p), an increase of 15 per cent. Shareholders who have already joined the dividend reinvestment plan will automatically receive shares instead of the cash dividend. Shareholders who have not joined the plan and wish to do so may obtain an application form from Lloyds TSB Registrars, The Causeway, Worthing, West Sussex, BN99 6DA (telephone 0870 6003990). Key dates for the payment of the final dividend are: Shares quoted ex-dividend. Shares purchased before this date qualify for the dividend 28 February Record date. Shareholders on the register on this date are entitled to the dividend 2 March Final date for joining or leaving the dividend reinvestment plan for the final dividend 4 April Dividend paid 2 May 12.Other information The financial information included in this news release does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2000 were approved by the directors on 15 February 2001 and will be delivered to the registrar of companies following publication on 10 March 2001. The auditors' report on these accounts was unqualified and did not include a statement under sections 237(2) (accounting records or returns inadequate or accounts not agreeing with records and returns) or 237(3) (failure to obtain necessary information and explanations) of the Companies Act 1985. Results for the half-year to 30 June 2001 will be announced on 27 July 2001. Page 44 of 45 LLOYDS TSB GROUP CONTACTS For further information please contact:- Kent Atkinson Group Finance Director Lloyds TSB Group plc 020 7356 1436 E-mail: kent.atkinson@ltsb-finance.co.uk Michael Oliver Director of Investor Relations Lloyds TSB Group plc 020 7356 2167 E-mail: michael.oliver@ltsb-finance.co.uk Terrence Collis Director of Group Corporate Communications Lloyds TSB Group plc 020 7356 2078 E-mail: terrence.collis@lloydstsb.co.uk Copies of this news release may be obtained from Investor Relations, Lloyds TSB Group plc, 71 Lombard Street, London EC3P 3BS (telephone 020 7356 1273). Information about the Group's role in the community and copies of the Group's code of business conduct and its environmental report may be obtained by writing to Public Affairs, Lloyds TSB Group plc, 71 Lombard Street, London EC3P 3BS. The full news release can also be found on the internet at www.lloydstsb.com. Page 45 of 45
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