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The firm was up 0.85p to 36.98p at 14:14 GMT in London, having earlier reached 39.22p.
This morning, it posted financial results for 2009 that revealed it made a loss of 33.6 billion for the 12-month period, a substantial reduction on the £24.3 billion it lost in 2008.
However, the company did also note that it failed to meet its targets for lending to businesses during the last year.
Its loss was smaller than analysts had expected - with analysts questioned by Reuters predicting a figure of £5.7 billion - and chief executive Stephen Hester said that the bank "exceeded all the principal milestones we set for the first year" of its five-year development plan.
He said that the bank has made "significant steps" forward over the past 12 months.
Posted by Greg Secker








