The UK government said today it has further reduced its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, a day after the bank posted its highest profit since before the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.
UK Financial Investments, which manages the government's stake in the lender, said in a statement it has reduced its stake in the bank to 3.567%.
Lloyds, which was rescued with a £20.5 billion taxpayer bailout, is close to a complete recovery from its crisis-era past after more than doubling its profit last year and setting aside a lower amount to cover misconduct issues.
At the current sell down rate, Lloyds should be fully returned to private ownership by May.
Lloyds Banking Group yesterday said its annual profits more than doubled to £4.24 billion.
It said bottom line profits surged last year from the £1.64 billion reported in 2015 as it saw lower costs of compensation for the payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal.
