U.K. Bank Profitability Remains Below Crash Levels, KPMG Says

Five years after the financial crisis, profitability at the largest U.K. banks remains lower than in 2009 and bad loans higher, according to KPMG LLP.

Britain’s five biggest lenders -- Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Barclays Plc and Standard Chartered Plc -- posted a 62 percent annual gain in combined pretax profits in 2014, London-based KPMG said in a statement on Tuesday. But average return on equity, a measure of profitability, remained lower than in 2009.