LONDON (AFX) - High street bank Lloyds TSB Group PLC said it agreed to sell its Goldfish credit card business to Morgan Stanley Bank International Limited for about 1 bln stg.
The price represents a premium of about 175 mln stg. Lloyds said it expects the deal to boost its pretax profit for the year to Dec 31 2005 by about 70 mln stg.
Lloyds' director of UK retail banking Terri Dial said the move would enable the bank to focus on its branded Lloyds TSB credit card business.
'Having reviewed our credit card business, I am convinced that our strategy going forward should focus on growing our core franchise,' she said in a statement.
She added that 'the vast majority' of Goldfish's Glasgow-based staff will transfer to Morgan Stanley.
Morgan Stanley said it has gained about 800,000 new credit card customers from the acquisition, boosting its credit card customer base by 47 pct.
Shares in Lloyds TSB, the UK's fifth-biggest bank, closed at 486-1/2 pence on Monday.
(Corrects to show that that acquisition price is 1 bln stg, not 175 mln stg; adds detail)
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