The financial watchdog has fined Lloyds Banking Group £64 million over failures in how it handled mortgage customers in payment difficulties or arrears between 2011 and 2015.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said its investigations found that Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and The Mortgage Business did not provide the appropriate level of support to mortgage customers in arrears.

It said the banks have paid out "approximately £300 million" to customers as part of a redress programme which is "nearly complete".

Between April 2011 and December 2015 the banks' call handlers did not consistently gather "adequate information to assess customers' circumstances and affordability", the FCA said.

READ MORE: Scottish fashion chain closes 11 stores with the loss of 93 jobs

The watchdog said that some of the failings were identified by the banks as early as 2011 but the steps they took "failed fully to rectify" the issues.

Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "Banks are required to treat customers fairly, even when those customers are in financial difficulties or are having trouble meeting their obligations.

"By not sufficiently understanding their customers' circumstances, the banks risked treating unfairly more than a quarter of a million customers in mortgage arrears, over several years.

"In some cases, customers were treated unfairly, including vulnerable customers.
"Customers should still pay what is owed, but banks are obliged to treat their customers fairly when making new payment arrangements."

Lloyds Banking Group said it has undertaken a voluntary redress programme which has seen it reimburse all 526,000 customers who paid mortgage arrears-related fees.

Lloyds said the FCA confirmed that failings in its processes "were committed inadvertently and that the bank did not seek to gain financially".

A Lloyds spokesman said: "We have contacted all customers who were affected between 2011 and 2015 to apologise and have already reimbursed all who were charged fees at the time.

"Customers do not need to take any action.

"We have since taken significant steps to enhance how we support mortgage customers experiencing financial difficulty, including investing in colleague training and procedures."

One of the UK's three sites launched to rapidly expand testing capacity has processed more than 200,000 test samples since opening.

The Glasgow Lighthouse Lab is hosted by the University of Glasgow at its Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus and officially began testing in April.

It receives samples - at first only from key workers but later extended to the general public - collected at regional testing sites around the UK.

READ MORE: Whisky investors rush to reserve barrels for future

University vice-principal Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak on Thursday praised the 150-strong team she leads at the hospital.

She said: "This is a significant milestone, and one which highlights the importance of having the Lighthouse Labs supporting the national Covid-19 testing effort, alongside NHS testing facilities, in Scotland and across the UK.

"It has been said all over the world, and confirmed by the WHO, that we have to test, test and test some more to fight the virus that has killed so many people.

"And as testing is now an essential part of the UK and Scottish Government's response plans to ease lockdown restrictions, the University of Glasgow and the whole team at the Glasgow Lighthouse Lab remain committed to maintaining this large-scale testing facility in Scotland for the benefit of all for as long as it is needed."

She added: "For that reason, I remain incredibly grateful to all the partners and colleagues who have volunteered their time, expertise and skills for this facility.

"As a result of their continued commitment and willingness to help in a time of need, we have not only hit important milestones such as more than 200,000 tests but we have created a facility which will be able to process Covid-19 tests for as long as we need to in this pandemic."

The Glasgow lab is part of a network of diagnostic testing facilities alongside other Lighthouse sites in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, and Alderley Park, Cheshire, with the project funded by the UK Government.

Discount retailer B&M has said it is better placed than many rivals to weather the Covid-19 pandemic as it posted a rise in annual profits and surging sales amid the lockdown.

The group saw annual pre-tax profits lift 3.2% to £252 million for the year to March 28, with sales since then rocketing thanks to strong demand for DIY and gardening products.

READ MORE: Scottish Gas owner Centrica to cut 5,000 jobs amid coronavirus

It revealed late last month that UK like-for-like sales raced 22.7% higher in the eight weeks to May 23, though it cautioned trading is unlikely to continue at the same pace as much of the rise was due to demand being brought forward amid the hot weather.

B&M was able to continue trading throughout the lockdown due to its sales largely falling within the essential categories of groceries, pet care, DIY and personal and household.

It said plans for new stores would be slowed this year and possibly next by the pandemic as it impacts construction work, but it confirmed it still has aims for another 30 in 2020-21 and stuck by its long-term target for at least 950 stores in the UK.

The firm, which has 656 outlets in the UK as well Heron Foods stores and the Babou chain in France, said it is well placed to weather the crisis, thanks in part to its out-of-town store base.

B&M chief executive Simon Arora said: "For many retailers, the outlook in the Covid-19 world is more about survival than it is about the shape of the year ahead and beyond.

"B&M has significant advantages - the 'variety retailing' model with its core strength in everyday essentials, a well-invested infrastructure, strong value credentials, a modern and convenient store network with continuing growth opportunities in the UK and France - mean that the business is better positioned and more resilient than most to deal with the new realities."

The group saw like-for-like revenue growth of 3.3% over the year, including 6.6% in the final quarter amid panic-buying as the Covid-19 crisis deepened.
Shares fell 7% after its full-year results, having risen strongly in recent months.