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Co-op Bank wants to restore customer trust as posts £76mln loss

Published: 07:40 22 Aug 2014 BST

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The Co-op Bank continues to focus on restoring customers' 'confidence and trust', it said, as it posted a pre-tax loss of £75.8mln in its latest half year.

That was a considerable improvement on the first half of 2013 for the troubled so-called ethical bank, which saw a loss of £845mln, mainly due to significant reductions in the level of credit impairments.

The firm is in the early stages of a turnaround campaign that will see it focus on reshaping the business around retail and small and medium sized enterprises and to increase mortgage lending.

A review of products and practices is ongoing.

Co-op, the country's oldest mutual, has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years as the scale of the financial issues blighting the business became apparent. It lost a whopping £2.5bn last year due to the loss at the banking business.

After a review Lord Myners recommended a major shake-up while Euan Sutherland resigned as chief executive of the Co-op Group in March describing the organisation as "ungovernable".

Last year, scandal struck when former chairman of the bank Paul Flowers was accused of buying and using illegal drugs.

Looking ahead, the bank today said: "There is still considerable work ahead of us as we undertake our 4-5 year turnaround plan but we are encouraged by the progress made in some key areas.

"This now allows us to push forward with simplifying the business, increasing revenue streams, reducing costs and investing in the technology to service customers in a way that suits them best.

"It also means we have begun to re-engage customers on what matters to them and we are re-investing in the brand and in its distinctiveness in the financial landscape."

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