HBOS £54m staff give-away

Around 60,000 staff at Halifax and Bank of Scotland group HBOS are to receive £54m in free shares this year, it was announced today.

Full-time workers will receive between £500 and £3,000 each in August, adding to annual bonuses of £222m already awarded this year. They will have to hold on to the shares for a minimum of three years.

The announcement comes after the company reported stronger-than-expected annual results, with pre-tax profits rising 22% to £4.59bn last year.

David Fisher, human resources director at HBOS, said the bonus allowed staff to share in the success of the company.

He said: 'A direct stake in HBOS reinforces the key role colleagues play in delivering all our objectives for shareholders.'

Workers at Bank of Scotland, Birmingham Midshires, Clerical Medical, Halifax and Intelligent Finance will all receive shares. HBOS already offers staff a Sharekicker plan that allows them to opt to buy shares with their annual bonus. The bank adds another 50% to the shares after three years, providing they are still with the company.

HBOS's performance last year made it Britain's third most profitable bank. The full-year figures were in fact slightly better than the City had expected.

In March, HSBC unveiled profits of £10.1bn, a UK record, while Royal Bank of Scotland said in February that earnings had topped £8.1bn.

However, the HBOS results were tarnished by an increase in customers struggling with debts. The bank said individuals and small businesses with bad debts made up 2.16% of the total compared to 1.81% a year earlier ? a rise of 31% to £4.52bn.