Gov’t announces Lloyds shares have raised £15bn

Lloyds, the U.K.’s biggest retail bank, was bailed out by United Kingdom taxpayers during the financial crisis, with the government taking a 39% stake.

The British government sold another 1 percent stake in Lloyds Banking Group Plc in the past month, pushing its holding below 12 percent as the bank’s shares hovered near the state’s minimum disposal price.

At this rate, the amount raised if the whole 80% stake is sold off will be little over £31 billion – amounting to a loss of nearly £15 billion.

The proceeds from the latest share sale will be used to pay down public debt, HM Treasury said in a statement. Furthermore, there will be a discounted retail offer to the man on the street later on this year or more likely in the first half of 2016, returning Lloyds completely to the private sector.

The total paid for the latest 1% chunk was not disclosed, but at market prices it is worth around £500 million. The finance ministry began selling off its stake in September 2013, but the pace of divestment has quickened after the government’s appointment of Morgan Stanley in December 2014. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th.

Shares in Lloyds have fallen 3.5% this year to 73.8p – marginally above the government’s break-even price of 73.6p.

They were as low as 71.6p earlier this month, with markets hit by turbulence amid fears over the global economy.

News of the sale increased investor confidence, sending Lloyds’ share price 1.54 percent higher to 75.00p as of 09:24 BST.

Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio, who has overseen the recovery of the bank’s fortunes, said in July that it was on track to achieve full re-privatisation within a year.

A Lloyds spokesman said: ‘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 simple, low risk and customer-focused bank that is committed to helping Britain prosper”.