The lender plans to reduce its total footprint by 1/5 within three years.

貸款人計劃在3年內將其總佔地面積減少1/5。

The move comes after a big plunge in full year earnings.

此舉是在全年業績大跌之後。

On Wednesday, the bank reported pre tax profits off $1.7 billion.

週三，該行公佈稅前利潤脫17億元。

That was less than a third off the previous year's level, though it still beat analyst forecasts.

這與上年的水準相差不到三分之一，不過仍然超過了分析師的預測。

The bank blamed mounting bad loans, which forced it to set aside billions of pounds to cover possible defaults to turn things around.

該銀行指責越來越多的壞賬，這迫使它撥出數十億英鎊來彌補可能的違約，以扭轉局面。

The firm is investing in its insurance and wealth management operations as well as aiming to cut costs.

該公司正在投資其保險和財富管理業務，並旨在削減成本。

Wednesday also saw bleak numbers from rival Metro Bank, which saw losses multiply it to warn that loan defaults would mount in the months ahead as government support for businesses winds down.

週三，競爭對手麥德龍銀行的數據也很黯淡，該行虧損倍增，它警告說，隨著政府對企業的支持逐漸減少，未來幾個月貸款違約率將上升。

As for office space, commercial property firms will be watching developments with alarm.

至於寫字樓方面，商業地產公司將以警惕的態度關注事態發展。