Britain has sold a 1% stake in state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group for £500m under plans to return it to private ownership, the government said today.
The Treasury announced in a statement that the sale has trimmed the government's stake from 24.9% to just under 24%.
Britain still owns a large chunk of Lloyds after bailing it out with £20 billion of taxpayers' cash at the height of the 2008 global financial crisis.
The government initially took a 39% share of Lloyds and has so far raised almost £8 billion selling parts of its holding.
Finance minister George Osborne had already revealed a six-month plan in December to reduce the stake.
"I am delighted to announce today that the trading plan I launched in December has raised a further £500m for the taxpayer so far," Mr Osborne said.
"This is further progress in returning Lloyds Banking Group to private ownership, reducing our national debt and getting taxpayers' money back. The trading plan and its success are only made possible by our long term economic plan which is delivering a more secure and resilient economy," he added.
The latest shares were sold above the average price that the previous UK government had paid for them, which was 73.6 pence.
