Lloyds share sale raises Â£3.2bn

17 September 2013 Last updated at 04:32 ET

The government has sold a 6% stake in Lloyds Banking Group at a price of 75p a share, raising £3.2bn.

The disposal cuts the government's stake in Lloyds from 38.7% to 32.7%.

The sale represents a cash profit of £61m for the Treasury, which BBC business editor Robert Peston said was a good deal.

"If the chancellor said a year ago that there would have been a cash profit on this deal, it would have been laughable," he said.

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

Shares in Lloyds closed at 77.36p on Monday. During 2008's bailout, the government purchased Lloyds shares at an average price of 73.6p.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, has previously said that 61p a share would be a level at which the government would break even.

In a tweet, Mr Osborne said Tuesday's sale was positive for the taxpayer, and an "important step" in plans to "get their money back and repair [the] economy".

The shares that have now been sold were offered to institutional investors, not to the public. The next sale of Lloyds shares is expected to include an element aimed at retail investors. The government will not sell any more of its Lloyds shares for 90 days.

Share price rises

In August, Lloyds reported that it had returned to profit. The bank made £2.1bn ($3.2bn) in the six months to the end of June, compared with a loss of £456m for the same period last year.

During the financial height of the crisis, £20.5bn was pumped into Lloyds by the government.

Lloyds TSB took over the ailing HBOS in 2009, leaving the taxpayer with a 43% stake in the newly formed Lloyds Banking Group.

The company's share price has almost doubled in the past year.

Analyst Ian Gordon of Investec said that many aspects of government and Bank of England policy, such as the "funding for lending" and "help to buy" schemes had been "distinctly positive" for Lloyds.

This view was echoed by Lord Myners, who was City Minister when Lloyds was rescued by the government.

He told the BBC's Today Programme: "One of the reasons Lloyds has proved so popular is investors are attracted by what's happening in the housing market in the UK at the moment... but there are still some bad debts lurking in there. "

He said that while the news of the Lloyds sale was welcome, he cautioned: "The crisis of the last five years is not over.... there is no room for complacency."

Lloyds share price fell by 2.3% in the first hour of trading on the London Stock Exchange.

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