Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has posted pre-tax profits of £1.8bn.

It provided £11.9 billion of lending to over 89,000 first-time buyers as well as one in five of all mortgage loans to customers buying their home in the UK in 2014, with total gross mortgage lending of £40 billion, 13% higher than the prior year.

LBG said it remains the largest participant in the UK government’s Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, lending £1.9 billion through this scheme in the year. In Retail Business Banking, it also supported over 100,000 new business start-ups.

SME lending grew for the fourth consecutive year against a market that has contracted each year, increasing by 5% in 2014. Its lending to mid market corporates also increased by 2% in a market that contracted by around 3%.

António Horta-Osório, group chief executive, said: :Over the last four years we have transformed Lloyds Banking Group into a low cost, low risk, UK focused retail and commercial bank. This has been made possible by the hard work of everyone at the Group.

“Today’s results also demonstrate that our profitability and capital position have improved significantly, and this has enabled the Board, for the first time in over six years, to recommend we pay a dividend to our shareholders.

“While we recognise we have more to do, we enter the next phase of our strategy from a position of strength. We will remain focused on our customers, embrace the digital age throughout the whole Group, continue our support for the UK economy and aim to deliver strong and sustainable returns for our shareholders.”