£196m loss for Bradford & Bingley

Nationalised lender Bradford & Bingley posted annual losses of £196m (€218m) today as write-offs on bad debts and fraud almost doubled.

Although the slide into the red was less than 2008’s £278m (€309.7m) reverse and a better result than expected in its business plan, the firm took an £884.1m (€985m) loan hit – up from £467.7m (€521m) the previous year.