//
This is lower than the £6.7 billion loss it made during 2008 and also slightly less than had been anticipated, with a poll conducted by Reuters revealing analysts were of the opinion that the loss would be £7.1 billion.
Lloyds said toxic loans - the majority of which were inherited when the bank took over Halifax Bank of Scotland - were to blame for the loss.
It stated that it lost £24 billion as a result of the bad loans.
Shares in Lloyds were down in stock market trading following the announcement, dipping 5.72 per cent to 51.76p on the FTSE 100 in London just prior to midday.
However, Eric Daniels, chief executive of the bank, was upbeat, stating: "We are building strong earnings momentum and expect our performance to improve significantly in 2010 and beyond."
Posted by Greg Secker
