Lloyds Share Sale Raises Another £500m

Another chunk of shares in Lloyds Banking Group has been sold back to private hands by the Treasury.

The disposal of the 1% holding takes the taxpayers' stake in the bank to just below 22%.

The Government has so far raised a total of £9bn from Lloyds share sales and a dividend payment since the £20bn bailout in exchange for a 40% stake at the height of the financial crisis.

The Chancellor George Osborne announced in December he planned an "orderly and measured" sell-off of up to 5% over six months, raising about £3bn.

He pledged then that no shares would be sold below the price the Labour Government paid for them, which was 73.6p.

Lloyds closed at 80.5p last night.

Mr Osborne tweeted today: "We have raised a further £500m through Lloyds share sales.

"£9bn now recovered & being used to pay down our national debt."

He had confirmed in his Budget earlier this month that the Government planned to sell a further £9bn of shares.

A Lloyds spokesman said on Thursday: "Today's announcement shows the further progress made in returning Lloyds Banking Group to full private ownership and enabling the taxpayer to get their money back.

"This reflects the hard work undertaken over the last four years to transform the group into a low-risk and customer-focused bank that is committed to helping Britain prosper."