Lloyds, the UK’s largest retail bank, said it
expects to post a profit for the year after lower impairment
provisions and cost controlling measures boosts income
growth.   


In a statement
to investors ahead of a Morgan Stanley
conference on 24 March, the bank “now expects to deliver a better
impairment performance than previously guided, in both the retail
and corporate businesses, in 2010”. 

The partly state-owned bank said it was
pleased with a strong trading performance for the first ten weeks
of the year with a good level of income growth.

It posted a £6.3 billion pre-tax loss for fiscal 2009,
but retained the most profitable UK retail division of the
four banks, despite a 62 percent decline in profits to £975
million.