Britain's Lloyds bank to axe 15,000 jobs

Britain's state-rescued Lloyds bank said Thursday it will axe 15,000 jobs in a cost-cutting plan to streamline the group, halve its international base and deliver £1.5 billion of annual savings by 2014. LBG said in an official statement it will "simplify the group to improve service and deliver £1.5 billion of annual savings in 2014" via measures that will include a "reduction of 15,000 roles" after a strategic review. The major overhaul, carried out under the leadership of new chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio, will seek to "streamline our international presence, from 30 countries to less than half that number, by 2014", it added. Lloyds, which is 41-percent state-owned after a huge bailout at the height of the global financial crisis, has now slashed more than 40,000 jobs since 2009 as it looks to guide its way back to health. LBG suffered spectacular losses in 2008 and 2009, as bad debts rocketed in the wake of its 2008 takeover of HBOS, which was plagued by toxic or high-risk property investments.