HIGH street banking group HBoS yesterday posted a 24 per cent rise in first-half profits after adding 500,000 credit card customers in six months.

The bank said it was on track to meet its targets for the full year as it reported interim pre-tax profits of £1.78bn.

Chief executive James Crosby said the group, formed from the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland in 2001, was firing on all cylinders, but singled out retail banking as a highlight.

HBoS said its retail banking arm had seen rapid growth at the expense of its peers, translating into profits up 24 per cent to £833m in the division.

Mr Crosby said the business was on course to add one million credit card and bank accounts this year, with 600,000 bank accounts and 500,000 credit cards in the first-half alone.