Lloyds TSB have revealed that they will not sell their life insurance and investment arm, the successful Scottish Widows brand. The bank have revealed that profits will meet expectations, putting an end to speculations of a bid from rival insurance companies AXA and Swiss Re.
The financial director of the bank, Helen Weir, said: "Scottish Widows is a fundamental driver to improved performance at the bank. We are seeing real benefits in the work we've been doing between retail and Scottish Widows. We see it as a core business and important to Lloyds TSB . So it does look like its not for sale."
Lloyds TSB is the fifth largest bank in the UK, although they are set to cut jobs by 3,000 this year. Whether these will be in the life insurance field remains to be seen. Weir said: "We've seen a limited number of reductions coming through this year. It's probably not going to be dissimilar to last year. But what we haven't been reducing is frontline staff. We have been investing in our frontline staff."




