Lloyds Banking Group Pauses Some Investment Over Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) --

Lloyds Banking Group Plc will delay some of its investments as the coronavirus disrupts daily life in the U.K., according to its chief executive.

Antonio Horta-Osorio said the bank would revisit some of his plan to transform the business, since more than half its staff are working at home and customer needs are changing as the disease spreads.

“We have a huge external shock, which will provide a delay, and therefore we will absolutely use that lever and delay our investment program accordingly,” he said at the Morgan Stanley European Financials conference, which is being held virtually this year.

Nine years into his tenure, Horta-Osorio has steered Lloyds to profitability and full private ownership after the financial crisis. Still, the bank still depends heavily on the strength of its home economy, which is clouded by the coronavirus emergency. Last week, the bank made 2 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) available for small businesses affected by the expected slowdown.

“This is not a crisis originated by the banking sector. This is an external crisis which will hit first the corporate sector,” he said. “Our planning cycle has shortened significantly from a very long horizon.”

Banco Santander SA said earlier Tuesday at the same conference that the virus’s effects could reduce its earnings by 5% this year.

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