Treasury sells more of Lloyds

THE Government has sold another chunk of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group – taking its holding in the state-backed lender to below 21pc, writes Hugo Duncan.

Taxpayers took a 41pc stake in Lloyds in 2008 through a £20bn bailout as the bank teetered on the brink of collapse during the financial crisis.

The Treasury started selling its stake in 2013 and the latest sale of more than 700m shares – worth £586m – means it has recouped about £9.5bn.

The Government still holds just under 15bn shares – or 20.95pc – worth nearly £12bn at last night’s price.

Chancellor George Osborne wants to sell a further £9bn of shares over the next 12 months – including around £4bn to private investors in the Conservatives win the general election.

David Cameron said the plan – the largest privatisation bonanza since the Thatcher era – would ‘help us recover billions more to pay down the national debt’.

Lloyds (up 0.11p to 79.1p) said the latest sale ‘shows the further progress made in returning Lloyds Banking Group to full private ownership and enabling the taxpayer to get their money back’.

Lloyds will next week update the stock market on its latest trading with analysts expecting first quarter profits to rise by 16pc to £2.1bn. SO much for election jitters. The pound has enjoyed its best twoweeks against the US dollar since the aftermath of the last General Election five years ago.

Sterling started trading below $1.47 on Monday last week but rose above $1.51 yesterday – taking its gains over the last fortnight to nearly 3pc.

However, the pound is both still below the $1.71 it hit last summer and its 2015 high, above $1.55.