Lloyds Banking Group said the share of troubled private equity and real estate loans on its balance sheet more than doubled in the year to December, potentially complicating its sale of a chunk of buyout assets.

Lloyds said impaired loans in its specialist finance unit - which comprises its private equity operations - rose to £3bn (€3.4bn), or 18.4% of all loans by December 31. This compared to £2bn, or 7.6%, the previous year. Loans are deemed impaired if the borrower is having difficulty repaying or if the loan is worth less than the debt, according to a spokesman.