By Ian Walker
LONDON--The U.K. government has reduced its stake in Lloyds
Banking Group PLC by a further 1 percentage point to 21.99%, the
latest in a series of small sales of shares in the bailed-out
bank.
In a London Stock Exchange shareholding notification Lloyds said
Thursday that The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury now owns
15.7 billion shares, or 21.99% of the bank's voting rights. It
previously held 16.4 billion shares.
No price was disclosed for the share sale, which was conducted
on Wednesday.
Lloyds was bailed out by British taxpayers during the financial
crisis, with the government taking a 39% stake in the U.K.'s
biggest retail bank. The government started selling its shares in
Lloyds in late 2013.
After initially selling chunks of Lloyds direct to investors
through accelerated placements, the government in December mandated
Morgan Stanley to gradually sell stock up to the end of June.
The latest share sale comes just weeks after Lloyds announced
its first full-year net profit and dividend payout since it was
bailed out, which Chief Executive António Horta-Osório hailed as a
symbol of the bank's return to normality following a traumatic few
years.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
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