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Lloyds
to bulk up bonus pool by nearly 10 percent: Sky
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[February 12, 2014]
(Reuters) — State-backed Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> is handing
out 395 million pounds ($651.12 million) in bonuses for last year,
including an award of just under 2 million pounds to its chief
executive, Sky News reported, without citing sources.
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 Lloyds agreed the amount on Tuesday with its biggest investor UK
Financial Investments (UKFI), which manages British taxpayers' the
33 percent stake in the lender, Sky said on its website. (http://link.reuters.com/jeq76v)
The near-400 million pound figure, which the broadcaster said would
be announced with Lloyd's full-year results on Thursday, is about 10
percent higher than the 360 million pound bonus pool the lender paid
out last year.
Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio's award will be in shares,
deferred for five years, Sky added.
Sky said, the bonus would be conditional on the bank's stock price
remaining for six months above 73.6 pence — the price the British
government bought it at when it bailed Lloyds out during the 2008
financial crisis. The bonus could alternatively be awarded if the
Government sells at least half of its remaining stake at a profit.
Horta-Osorio received his 2012 bonus of 1.5 million pounds under
similar terms. Under last year's deal, however, the Government would
have had to sell at least a third of its holding for a profit, not
half.
The news came on the same day that Barclays <BARC.L>, Britain's
third largest bank, said it had raised its bonuses for investment
bankers by 13 percent to 2.4 billion pounds despite a slump in
profit, prompting fury among politicians who said the lender had not
learned the lessons of the financial crisis.
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Banks have been under pressure to rein in pay, as regulators and
politicians say it encourages risk-taking and contributed to the
2008 global crisis.
Sources told Reuters last week that Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> had
capped cash bonus payouts for its bankers at 300,000 euros
($410,300) for the second year running.
Lloyds and UKFI could not be contacted outside of business hours.
($1 = 0.6067 British pounds) ($1 = 0.7312 euros)
(Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bangalore;
editing by William Hardy)
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