The loss reflected a $501 million impairment charge, a $57 million goodwill impairment charge and a $41 million writedown of inventory and other charges.

The impairment charge was 1.25 billion in the second quarter, a 49 million improvement on the first three months of the year.

The struggling care homes operator said that the sharp pre-tax loss was due partly to a large impairment charge of 219.2 million.

A goodwill impairment charge of $1.4 billion resulted in a $1.06 billion loss in the same quarter for the year earlier.

The second-quarter provision, which was higher than expected, took the high street lender's first-half impairment charge to £3.7 billion, more than four times last year's £900 million.