London, March 9, 2026, 21:34 GMT
Lloyds Banking Group plc on Monday named Trusha Pillay as managing director within its infrastructure and project finance arm, tapping a senior executive with prior stints at BNP Paribas and MUFG. Pillay, who brings two decades of industry experience, is set to handle debt structuring and arrangement for clients spanning the UK, US, and Europe. She’ll report directly to Tony Hable, the bank said.
This is significant: Britain’s top mortgage lender is ramping up efforts to move past its traditional retail stronghold. Reuters reported last month that Lloyds is looking to step up lending to larger corporate clients and financial institutions. Chief Executive Charlie Nunn is expected to outline the next phase of the bank’s strategy in July.
Infrastructure and project finance—covering long-term capital for power, transport, and utilities—offers both lending returns and fee opportunities. Hable described Pillay as bringing a “rare combination of structuring expertise” just as Lloyds looks to expand a unit where clients are seeking deeper, longer-term banking relationships. Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds picked up 36.9 million ordinary shares on Monday, paying a volume-weighted average of 94.2249 pence each, according to another filing. The move slots into the bank’s up-to-1.75 billion pound buyback program, which kicked off Jan. 30 and is slated to run through Dec. 31. All repurchased shares will be cancelled.
Lloyds announced the capital return following a 12% rise in 2025 pretax profit, reaching 6.7 billion pounds, while also raising its 2026 return on tangible equity goal to over 16%. Return on tangible equity—widely watched as a bank profitability metric—got a nod from Nunn back in January, when he credited “business momentum and strategic delivery” for the group’s guidance upgrade. Reuters
It’s a broader shift: NatWest struck a deal in February to snap up wealth manager Evelyn Partners, and Barclays, also that month, lifted its performance targets, banking on its U.S. division and core markets.
Monday brought a tougher tone. A spike in oil sent UK bond yields climbing and, for a moment, traders revived talk of a possible Bank of England rate hike. “Rate cuts now seem unlikely,” Hal Cook, senior investment analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, pointed out—a shift that could dampen loan appetite or add pressure on household borrowers, especially for a bank still heavily exposed to UK consumers. Reuters
Lloyds is pushing ahead with capital returns as it works to overhaul operations. Investors are zeroed in on July: that’s when Nunn is set to roll out the next strategic phase and explain how the bank’s growth plan can coexist with the motor finance scandal — the issue where some car-loan customers weren’t told about hidden commissions. Lloyds acknowledged the scandal cut into its 2025 results.
