£500m of taxpayer money recovered in Lloyds share sale

The latest sales mean that the government’s stake in the bank has reduced from around 40% to 24%.

The government remains committed to restoring Lloyds to private ownership in a way which gets the best value for the taxpayer. All shares sold through the trading plan have been sold above the average price the previous government paid for them, which was 73.6p.

As required by Financial Conduct Authority rules, Lloyds Banking Group announced today that the government’s shareholding in the bank had crossed through a one percentage point threshold. This announcement notifies the market that the government has reduced its shareholding in Lloyds by a 1% threshold, in this case to below 24%.

The Chancellor George Osborne said:

"I am delighted to announce today that the trading plan I launched in December has raised a further £500m for the taxpayer so far. This is further progress in returning Lloyds Banking Group to private ownership, reducing our national debt and getting taxpayers’ money back.

"The trading plan and its success are only made possible by our long term economic plan which is delivering a more secure and resilient economy."