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UK taxpayer no longer largest shareholder in Lloyds Bank
The government has recovered over £18bn of the £20.3bn taxpayers injected into Lloyds Banking Group during the financial crisis and is no longer the largest shareholder in the bank.
The Treasury said the move marked a “significant milestone” in returning Lloyds back to the private sector.
The latest share sales, conducted through the trading plan, have reduced the government’s remaining shareholding to less than 6%.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond said: “Returning Lloyds to the private sector and recovering all of the cash the taxpayer injected into the bank during the financial crisis is a priority for the government.
“Confirmation that we are no longer the largest shareholder in the bank and that we’ve now recouped over £18bn for UK taxpayers is further evidence that we are on track to recover all of the £20bn injected into the bank during the financial crisis.”
A trading plan involves gradually selling shares in the market over time, in an orderly and measured way.
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The Lloyds trading plan initially ran from 17 December 2014 to 30 June 2016. The government announced on 7 October 2016 that further sales of Lloyds shares would also be made through a trading plan.
However, the Treasury withdrew the planned retail sale of its final 9.1% stake in Lloyds, blaming ongoing market volatility.
Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Retail investors had the disappointment of being denied involvement in a Lloyds share sale, although there is still time and plenty of opportunity to rectify this with the remaining c. £2 billion stake.
“Today’s announcement confirms that more shares have been sold to the institutions through the trading plan and the taxpayer is no longer the largest shareholder in Lloyds.”