Lloyds cuts its Irish loan impairment charge by half

Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, said its Irish loan impairment charge was cut by half to £897m (€1.115bn) in the first six months compared with a year earlier as the pace of increase of home-loan arrears slowed.

The impairment charge compared with £1.78bn in the first half of last year and £1.41bn for the final six months, Lloyds said.

The decline in new provisions “is primarily due to a reduction in new customers entering arrears,” while the rate of commercial real estate market deterioration has eased, it said.