Lloyds share sale recoups £3.5bn for UK treasury

THE Government has boosted the Treasury coffers by £3.5 billion with the sale of one per cent of its shares in Lloyds.

George Osborne has extended the trading plan to December 2015. Picture: PA

The sale means that the taxpayer owned share in Lloyds, which was bailed out after it took over Halifax Bank of Scotland, stands at less than 19 per cent.

Chancellor George Osborne has decided to extend the trading plan, launched in December 2014, was due to end no later than the 30 June 2015, meaning that it will now end no later than 31 December 2015.

Shares have been sold through the trading plan for an average price of over 80p, well above the average 73.6p originally paid for the shares.

Osborne said: “The trading plan has been a huge success, with almost £3.5 billion raised for the taxpayer so far. This means we have now recovered over £10.5 billion in total, more than half of the taxpayers’ money put into Lloyds, and we now own under 19 per cent of the bank.

“But we’re determined to get on with the job of returning Lloyds to private ownership. That’s why I’m extending the plan for six months so that we can make even more progress in returning money to the taxpayer and paying down the national debt.”

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