Crunch bites HBoS profits

HALIFAX Bank of Scotland today announced that profits in the first half of the year were more than halved as it continues to fall victim to the credit crunch.

The Edinburgh-based bank's 51 per cent underlying interim pre-tax profit decline was largely attributable to a £1.1 billion hit it has taken as a result of the economic slowdown.

And it also said that hard-pressed customers struggling to keep up with repayments had contributed to its bad debts leaping by £1.31bn.