Another good year
AT Lloyds Bank, when they lose £715 million, they like to look on the bright side. Brian Pitman, Lloyds' ebullient chief ex- ecutive, says in the report and accounts that it was another good year for sharehol- ders — meaning that more of their own funds were repaid to them as dividends. In his more restrained style, Sir Jeremy Morse, Lloyds' chairman, says that the results for 1989 were similar to those of 1987 — similar, but not identical, for 1987 was the year when Lloyds lost £248 million. Floating around the bank is an authentic- looking memorandum which purports to announce the introduction of a loss-sharing scheme, based, like Lloyds' profit-sharing schemes, on a percentage of basic salary. `By creating this scheme', so the memo alleges, 'the board hopes to recoup the unfortunate losses made in lending to lesser developed countries including South America . . Those in Management Grade 6 and above, board members etc., will unfortunately not be eligible to join the scheme.' Shareholders, of course, are eligible to participate in full.
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