Govt sells further £500m Lloyds shares

The Chancellor said the latest sale meant the government's stake in the bank had reduced to 24%. It follows £7.4bn of sales completed last year, prior to which the government's stake was 40%. George Osborne added all shares sold through the trading plan had been sold above the average price the previous government paid for them, which was 73.6p. Osborne said: "I am delighted to announce 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 d...