LEX The pattern is familiar: bank makes duff acquisition, watches boom time loans turn sour, then hits investors for a restorative rights issue. If approved by shareholders, Lloyds Banking Group’s £13.5bn cash call, priced on Tuesday, will complete the recapitalisation of the bank after its purchase of near-insolvent HBOS.
Equivalent to almost 1 per cent of the UK’s contracting gross domestic product, Lloyds’ issue trounces the elephantine £12.5bn global rival HSBC raised to clear its Household hangover.
