Summary: Lloyds banking group reports a 10% increase in underlying profit , reaching just over 4 billion for the first half of the year. Impairment charge of 700 million pounds reflects delinquencies and bad debts on the company's books. Loans and advances to customers decline by approximately 10% to 450 billion, while customer deposits drop by about 1.2% to 469 billion. Lloyds announces a 15% increase in interim dividend s, remaining ahead of its target. Despite positive announcements, Lloyds' shares still decline by 3.8% in response to the first-half figures. ...