May 7: Impairments rise at Barclays and Lloyds

Profits at the retail and commercial banking arm of Barclays almost halved in the first three months of 2009 as British consumers and businesses struggled to maintain loan repayments. Lloyds Banking Group, the rival UK bank, also said on Thursday that it expected its impairment charges on corporate loans to rise by more than half in 2009 as a result of economic weakness. Jane Croft looks at how customers' repayment difficulties are affecting the banks and where the pain is being seen. Produced by Darryl Thomson. JdlM