We're only a quarter of the way through Lloyds' 2009 cost-cutting targets

Lloyds' half yearly results are unlikely to provide much tonic for those angered by its 'drip-drip' approach to redundancies. Though ahead of schedule, the 'cost-synergies' currently stand at just over 100m - its aim is to save 400m by the end of 2009.

Redundancy announcements have been coming out of Lloyds Banking Group with alarming frequency this year, and the current figure stands at 8,200 following the latest cuts in its operations division and Scottish Widows.

So far, though, the majority of affected staff have yet to leave the company, and total headcount was down by just 2,610 at 30 June, to stand at 118,207.

HBOS's legacy was instrumental in dragging the bank to a mammoth 4bn loss, with impairments coming from the Scottish bank's loan book totaling a massive 13.4bn.

The good news for Scotland stems from the fact the Scottish Widows Investment Partnership is both set to stay within the group and expand its Edinburgh-based asset management team.

But that's where it's likely to end. Lloyds talks of how "good progress" has been made in the first half with the integration of the retail banking activities of the merged entities, including consolidating back office processes (hence those redundancies in operations and IT).

It also says that the target is for 400m of 'cost synergy savings' by the end of 2009, and that: "The Group remains confident that it will meet its commitment to deliver cost synergies and other operating efficiencies of greater than 1.5 billion per annum by the end of 2011."

Below is a breakdown of how staff numbers compare to the end of last year. Retail is the most badly hit - with over 1,000 employees exiting since December - while wholesale comes in a close second (this division includes a good chunk of those HBOS loans).

Wealth and international has actually added over 50 people this year.

Source: Lloyds TSB