The Halifax is to return to Scotland as an independent brand for the first time in a decade after Lloyds Banking Group announced plans to open branches in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The move comes after Lloyds posted a profit of £2.1 billion for the six months to the end of June, rebounding from a loss of £456 million a year ago and said it wants to restart dividend payments.

Lloyds's shares soared 8% or 5.53p to 74p, closing above the 73.6p level at which the taxpayer bought into the bank during its £20bn rescue and leaving the way clear for the UK Government to start selling its 39% stake.

Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said Halifax challenged the rest of the market and kept Lloyds's other brands, including Bank of Scotland, "on their toes". "We are going to open in the three biggest cities by March next year," he said.

After opening in a former Bank of Scotland outlet in the Granite City's Union Street in December, branches in Edinburgh and Glasgow will follow in early 2014.

Halifax has 1.5 million customers in Scotland. But they have to use Bank of Scotland branches and cannot access all Halifax services.

Lloyds managers believe reintroducing Halifax on the Scottish high street will help it to pick up customers who abandon Bank of Scotland and attract others from rivals.

Mr Horta-Osorio said it will also aid Lloyds's drive to increase its market share in products such as home insurance and consumer credit where it is relatively weak.

As a building society, Halifax's first branch north of Border opened in Glasgow in 1928.

But its outlets were subsumed into the Bank of Scotland estate after the 2001 merger of the two institutions. Although the Halifax brand lingered on in combined Halifax Bank of Scotland signs, these were removed in 2012 as the estate was branded Bank of Scotland.

The Halifax branches will be large, each staffed by 20 to 30 people, and located in central retail areas.

David Nicholson, group director for Halifax said he has already identified a site in Edinburgh city centre and has two options for Glasgow.

"We are pretty confident we are in the right places," he said.

There are 670 Halifax branches south of the Border.

The boost to Halifax comes as Lloyds prepares to launch TSB, which is dominated by the former Lloyds TSB Scotland estate, as an independent bank on September 9.

It is backing the move with a £30m advertising drive and a stock market flotation is planned for June 2014.

Mr Horta-Osoio said "it is possible" Lloyds will make a profit on the sale of the bank which cost £1.3bn to construct. A deal to sell the business, which has 631 branches including 185 from Lloyds TSB Scotland, to Co-operative collapsed in April.

Lloyds admitted it will not meet the November 2013 deadline for disposal set by the European Commission as a condition of its state bailout but Mr Horta-Osorio is confident officials will back the new timetable.

TSB will use Lloyds's systems under a 10-year contract and its 4.8m customers will be able to use both Lloyds branches for a period.

A chairman for TSB is expected to be appointed by early October.

Mr Horta-Osorio, whose bonus is tied to the Government selling 33% a third of its stake at 61p, said of Lloyds's profit surge: "I believe we have played our part and the Government can now sell the shares."

He said that Lloyds will be a "high dividend payer". The bank has approached regulators about the timetable and conditions for payments to restart.

Fund manager Steve Davies, who holds Lloyds as the biggest stock in both the Jupiter UK Growth Fund and the Jupiter Undervalued Assets Fund, said: "We welcome Lloyds's announcement today that it will initiate discussions with the regulator about restarting its dividend payments.

"In our view, this represents the final stage on its journey back to pre-crisis normality, alongside the gradual sell-down of the Government's stake in the group."

Some analysts expect a token 1p dividend to be paid in February 2014.

The improved profit numbers came despite a £500m increase in the bank's provision for Payment Protection Insurance mis-selling.

Trade union Unite called for a £500 one-off payment to Lloyds employees.