Treasury reduces Lloyds stake to below 17%

The UK government has cut its stake in Lloyds further, selling more than 734 million shares in the bank, which it rescued during the 2009 financial crisis.

In a stock exchange filing, Lloyds notified that the HM Treasury's stake in the bank was reduced by 1% to 16.87%, following the latest share sale.

The latest sale is estimated to have generated about £600m (€840m, $947m) for the treasury. So far, the government has recovered £11.5bn from the sale of Lloyds shares in various phases.

The government acquired a 41% stake in Lloyd's business in 2008 shhellin gout some £20bn. It steadily reduced its holdings in the bank, given the improvement in share prices in line with the country's economic recovery.

Chancellor George Osborne during his Mansion House speech had said that he wants to divest the government's entire stake in Lloyds and return the bank to the private sector over the coming year.

He is also planning to kick-start the sale of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland, which was rescued by the government along with Lloyds. The Treasury currency holds a 79% stake in RBS.

The government earlier said it will be extending its sale scheme for Lloyds shares through UK Financial Investments and Morgan Stanley until the end of 2015.