Bank profitability in UK still below 2009 crash level: KPMG

London

FIVE years after the financial crisis, profitability at the largest UK banks remains lower than in 2009 and bad loans higher, according to KPMG LLP.

Britain's five biggest lenders - Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Barclays Plc and Standard Chartered Plc - posted a 62 per cent annual gain in combined pre-tax profits in 2014, London-based KPMG said in a statement on Tuesday. But average return on equity, a measure of profitability, remained lower than in 2009.