Government confirms Lloyds stake sale

The government has confirmed that it has reduced its stake in Lloyds Banking Group from 38.7 per cent to 32.7 per cent.

It was announced that the sale went through at 75 pence per share and this is believed to have raised as much as £3.2 billion and a cash profit of £61 million for the Treasury.

BBC business editor Robert Peston explained this is a good deal for the government as it would have been "laughable" a year ago to suggest it could make a profit on the shares.

"From the perspective of where things were a year ago it is a good outcome," he said.

Shares were offered to institutional investors, but it is expected that the next phase of the share sell-off will include retail investors.

Last month, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg insisted that the government was not in a rush to sell off its shares in Lloyds Banking Group, which it bought to rescue the bank in the recession.

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