HBOS promising record dividends

Shareholders in Scotland will receive an average of almost £94 each

Scottish bank shareholders are to receive more than £15m in dividends, Halifax Bank of Scotland has announced.

HBOS said it was the largest interim dividend payment in the history of the bank and would be split between 160,000 small shareholders.

Officials said 16,000 HBOS employees in Scotland were set to collect about £18m of free shares next week.

The moves came as the bank revealed a 13% increase in underlying profits to £2.96bn for the first half of 2007.

Shareholders in Scotland have been promised an average of almost £94 each when payments are sent on 8 October, more than £30 higher than the payout to all shareholders.

The value of the interim dividend has increased by 23% to 16.6p.

HBOS said that over the last five years it had issued dividends of about £1.3bn to private shareholders and £6.1bn in total to all shareholders.

Overdraft charges

Worldwide, almost 70,000 staff have been promised £80m in free shares.

Employees have now been handed £218m in shares since the bank began the scheme in 2005 and the total value of shares held by staff now stands at £490m.

HBOS also said it had returned or planned to return £79m to customers claiming back overdraft charges during the period, on top of the £116m disclosed by HSBC and £36m by Lloyds TSB, already this week.

The bank, along with other major high street names, is seeking a stay of all current and potential future legal action brought against them until the resolution of a test case brought by the Office of Fair Trading.