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Highlights
- UK's largest domestic lender Lloyds Banking Group has announced a £1,000 bonus to support its staff deal with the high cost of living.
- Over 64,000 employees will benefit from the bonus.
- However, executives and senior management will be exempt from it.
The cost-of-living crisis is hitting UK households hard. Especially as offices reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic, employees who have been working from home for two years now have to consider additional expenses. These expenses like gas, which has been touching all-time highs frequently, along with lunch and childcare, are added to the already soaring bills of essentials like groceries, rent, heating etc., putting more burden on the employees.
In such a situation, employers too are looking for creative ways to make it a little easier on the employees' pockets to return to the office. British lender Lloyds Bank (LLOY: LON) is one such firm that has announced a bonus to help its employees deal with the high cost of living.
The company will pay its 64,182 employees a £1,000 bonus in August. According to a report by Sky News, executives and the senior management would be exempt from the bonus.
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A memo from the company, cited by Sky News, read that the one-off payment is designed to support the employees during these 'uncertain economic times'.
Protests by Union during AGM
The announcement comes after the lender came under pressure to support its lowest-paid staff amid the skyrocketing inflation levels. Last month, the company faced demonstrations by Unite, the union which represents staff working at Lloyds Banking Group, outside its annual general meeting (AGM) in Edinburgh.
The union had claimed that the low-paid workers fear for their economic security, with some saying they won't be able to sufficiently heat their homes. Others had to stop their pension contributions as they couldn't afford them. Employees are forced to turn to debts to pay their bills, the union had said.
After the announcement of the bonus, the union has said the staff would welcome the bonus but added that there is still a long way to go to eradicate low pay in the sector.
Q1 performance of Lloyds
In the three months to 31 March 2022, the Group posted a profit before tax of £1,457 million, £311 million less than the £1,768 million it reported in Q1 2021. Total income, on the other hand, rose by £166 million or 5% to £3,810 million during the period. The net interest income was £2,922 million, an increase of £266 million over Q1 2021.
Share price performance
Lloyds Banking Group is the UK's largest domestic lender and offers multiple banking and financial services to its customers. Last month, the company announced that it would close 28 branches across the country as customers shift to online banking.
The company currently has a market capitalisation of £29,795.69 million. Over the past year, it has given a negative return of -11.51% to the investors, while the year-to-date return stands at -10.41%. Shares of Lloyds were trading at GBX 43.24, 0.98% up, as of 8:06 am GMT+1 on 14 June 2022.
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