Lloyds Bank reports pre-tax profit of £415m

The taxpayer-backed bank lost £606m in 2012, and was bailed out for £20.5bn following the financial crisis.

Underlying profits in 2013 rose 140% from £2.6bn to £6.2bn.

Lloyds Bank chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio is now in line for a £1.7m bonus, with the overall pool of bonuses coming to £395m, up from £365m the previous year.

In the fourth quarter Lloyds put aside £1.8m to cover the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance, bringing the total to £9.8bn since new rules were put in place in 2011.

The chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, said he wants to sell more shares in the bank to the public before the next election in 2015.

UK Financial Investments, which manages the government's 33% stake, sold a 6% shareholding in the bank last September.

Lloyds is negotiating with the European Commission to sell it in a public share offering this year.

It rebranded and separated its other retail banking business, TSB, in September.