U.K. Government Reduces Stake in Lloyds to 3.89%
February 23 2017 - 3:27AM
Dow Jones News
By Ian Walker
LONDON--U.K. government has further reduced its shareholding in
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LLOY.LN) in which it now holds around a
3.89% stake.
No price was disclosed on Thursday for the share sale, which was
conducted on Wednesday.
The move is the latest in the government's planned piecemeal
sale of its remaining shares after it pulled a plan for retail
offering of the 9.1% stake it still held in the lender last
October.
Money raised from the sale of the government's holding in the
British bank has been earmarked for reducing national debt.
The U.K. Treasury said the latest sales of Lloyds stock mean the
government has recovered over 19 billion pounds ($23.6 billion) of
the GBP20.3 billion taxpayers injected into Lloyds during the
financial crisis, once share sales and dividends received are
accounted for.
"Lloyds' strong annual results show that we are in a good
position to continue to reduce our shareholding and recover all of
the money the tax-payer injected into the bank during the financial
crisis," said Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby.
Lloyds, the U.K.'s biggest retail bank, was bailed out by U.K.
taxpayers during the crisis, with the government originally taking
a 39% stake. The government started selling its shares in the bank
in late 2013.
On Wednesday, Lloyds reported a more than quadrupled net profit
to its highest level in a decade as the bank benefited from a steep
fall in conduct costs.
-Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 23, 2017 03:12 ET (08:12 GMT)
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