Treasury sells off another £500m of bailed out Lloyds Bank stake
LLOYDS shares fell yesterday as the government revealed it had sold off another £500m stake in the bank.
The government is drip-feeding shares on to the market in a bid to steadily recoup the cost of the bailout. It has now raised more than £1bn since launching the sale policy in December 2014.
The latest figures mean the taxpayer stake in the bank has fallen to below 23 per cent, from 43 per cent back in 2009. The bank’s share price slipped 1.3 per cent on the day to 80.37p. That compares with an average bailout price of 73.6p – but the government also has to factor in the cost of borrowing to buy the shares, before it can calculate the profit or loss made.
“With Lloyds shares trading at a 12-month high, we think it is manifestly good news… that such share price appreciation has been achieved in tandem with an acceleration in the pace of sell-down of the UK government’s residual stake,” said Ian Gordon from Investec.