23rd Feb 2015 09:48
LONDON (Alliance News) - The UK government Monday said it has sold a further GBP500 million of Lloyds Banking Group PLC shares under a trading plan launched in December last year, meaning its stake in the lender has been reduced to 23.9%.
The sale of the shares marks another step towards returning Lloyds back to full private ownership after the bank required billions of pounds of state support during the financial crisis, which had given the UK government a 41% holding in the group.
All shares sold through the trading plan have been sold above the average price the previous government paid for them, which was 73.6 pence, the government said.
"This is further progress in returning Lloyds Banking Group to private ownership, reducing our national debt and getting taxpayers' money back," Chancellor George Osborne said in a statement.
A trading plan involves gradually selling shares in the market over time, in an orderly and measured way.
The trading plan, which is being managed by Morgan Stanley, will continue for approximately four months, meaning it will go beyond the UK's General Election scheduled for May.
Lloyds reports annual results for 2014 on Friday, when it could return to making dividend payments for the first time since 2008.
Lloyds shares were up 1.3% at 78.97 pence on Monday.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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