British bank Lloyds TSB announced on Monday a rise in annual headline pre-tax profit of 66 percent after benefiting from the sale of a number of its overseas businesses and greater stability in global financial markets.
Pre-tax profit including disposals and exceptionals rose to 4.35 billion pounds (6.59 billion euros) last year, up from 2.62 billion pounds in 2002 and matching analysts' expectations.
"This increase does not appropriately reflect the group's performance, as it was, in large part, the result of the strategic repositioning of our business portfolio and the greater stability in global financial markets," the bank's group chief executive, Eric Daniels, said in a statement accompanying the results. He added that the bank was beginning to deliver growth in its substantial retail and corporate customer franchises.
Pre-tax profit excluding disposals and other one-off items fell four percent to 3.38 billion pounds.
In 2003 Lloyds sold the National Bank of New Zealand, its French operations and most of its businesses in Brazil, adding around 865 million to the company's bottom line.
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