Major job cuts are set to dominate bank’s results

State-backed Lloyds Banking Group is reportedly set to announce more major job cuts when it issues a third quarter trading update on Tuesday.

There are fears that as many as 9,000 jobs could go over the next three years as part of a digitisation strategy that will also lead to more branch closures.

The announcement is likely to overshadow figures expected to show more progress on a trading front as economic conditions improve. Results are also due from Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday and Barclays on Thursday.

The Lloyds jobs are expected to go in areas such as mortgage processing and new account processing, adding to more than 30,000 lost since the financial crisis. The cuts will come as work completed manually at the moment is computerised to reduce costs and improve customer services.

The group remains 25 per cent-owned by the taxpayer following its £20bn rescue by the Government at the height of the financial crisis. It was 43 per cent-owned by the Treasury but some of the stake has now been sold off.

Earlier this year, Lloyds reported underlying profits up 32 per cent to £3.8bn for the first half, though its overall bottom-line profit fell because of a £1.1bn hit from continuing “legacy issues”.