Big 4 banks rake in £44BN PROFITS

..thanks to rate hike that hit households

- GRAHAM HISCOTT

BRITAIN'S Big Four banks have been blasted for raking in a combined £44billion of profit while penalising borrowers and closing hundreds of branches.

Lloyds Banking Group was the last to report its annual results as it yesterday revealed it made a record £7.5bn last year, a leap of more than 50% on 2022.

That was despite setting aside £450million for a potential car finance miss-selling scandal.

The news followed bumper results from Barclays, NatWest and HSBC over the past week.

Bosses at the four were also laughing all the way to the bank. Lloyds' Charlie Nunn netted £3.7m while the head of HSBC, Noel Quinn, saw his pay and perks package double to £10.6m.

Barclays boss CS Venkatakrishnan received £4.6m and Paul Thwaite of NatWest was handed £2.4m in 2023.