Lloyds Banking Group Share Price (LLOY) - Buy LLOY Shares

The Lloyds TSB Group, now called the Lloyds Banking Group, is a banking collective that has revolutionized the world of finance in its acquisition of the Halifax Bank of Scotland (HSBOS) on January 19th 2008. Since Lloyds Bank's formation in 1765 it has developed into one of the most important banking institutions in the UK and due to a series of mergers is renowned as one of the 'Big Four' British banks in the United Kingdom. It has main offices in London and Edinburgh but has departments in the USA, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Lloyd's main focuses are the fields of banking and insurance, represented by its subsidiaries Cheltenham and Gloucester (operating in the field of retail and commercial banking, asset management and mortgage loans) and Scottish Widows (focusing on life insurance, general insurance, pensions and investment funds). Prior to the credit crunch it was the fifth largest banking group in the UK and with the takeover of HSBOS, Lloyds hopes to further increase its footing in the banking world. In order to keep Britain's banks afloat during the financial crisis, Gordon Brown announced in October 2008 that the treasury would inject £37 billion of new capital into major banks, including Lloyds.

Like all banking institutions in the last eighteen months, the Lloyds TSB Group has experienced a downturn and this is reflected in data overviews from 2007 to the present. Its 52 week range is 33 - 488.50; it has a 17.61 billion pound revenue and a net income of 2.33 billion pounds.

HBOS Summary - acquired by Lloyds Banking Group in January 2009

HBOS plc (Halifax Bank of Scotland) was a banking and insurance group in the UK, the holding company for Bank of Scotland plc which operated the Bank of Scotland and the Halifax brands, HBOS Australia and HBOS Insurance and Investment Groups Ltd, the group's insurance division. It is now an entirely owned subsidiary of the Lloyds TSB Group.

2008 proved a difficult year for HBOS in the face of the 'credit crunch' and a 17% fall in shares was followed by rumours that it had approached the Bank of England for emergency funding. After the demise of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, HBOS's share price experienced unpredictable fluctuations between 88p and 220p per share despite assurances from the FSA. On 17th September the BBC reported that HBOS was in advanced talks with Lloyds TSB to create a 'superbank' with some 38 million customers and the terms of the recommended offer were confirmed the next day. Four weeks later the Treasury infused £37 billion of new capital-bailout into Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Lloyds TSB and HBOS PLC resulting in the fact that UK Taxpayers would own up to 43% of the newly merged bank.

In January of this year, Lloyds TSB Group Shares slumped 30.5p to 34.5p a 47% decline as investors bailed out; that said, investing in any bank brings with it a number of risks and some brokers suggest that the best way of making money through investment is simply to wait it out – as banks are encouraged to start lending again and Alistair Darling strives to inject a bit of fluidity into the financial markets being patient may well hold its rewards.