Lloyds Banking Group has reported a 7 per cent fall in half-year pre-tax profits and revealed another £550million hit from the payment protection insurance scandal. The lender said pre-tax profits dropped to a worse-than-expected £2.9billion for the six months to June 30 after it booked the latest bill for the mis-selling saga and costs related to restructuring efforts. The extra provision for PPI was taken in the second quarter as claims surged ahead of the August 29 deadline, bringing its total in the half-year to £650million and the total for the scandal so far to a mammoth £20.1billion.

On an underlying basis, Lloyds said pre-tax profits slipped 1 per cent to £4.19 billion in the six months to June 30. Shares in the bank fell 4.6 per cent in morning trading to 52.56p. Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said while the economy has remained resilient amid Brexit, the 'continuing uncertainty is having an impact and leading to some softening in business confidence as well as in international economic indicators'. The group also said that while longer-term targets remain unchanged, the economic uncertainty could impact its outlook.

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