The Treasury has announced that a further retail sale of Lloyds shares will be launched next spring, with applications available online and by post.
According to a statement, it is the government’s intention to fully exit from its Lloyds shareholding in the coming months, with at least £2bn of shares to be sold to retail investors.
Members of the public will be offered a discount of 5 per cent of the market price, with a bonus share for every 10 shares for those who hold their investment for more than a year. At the time of writing, Lloyds’s share are priced at 77.47 pence, up 1.2 per cent so far today.
The value of the bonus share incentive will be capped at £200 per investor and people applying for investments of less than £1,000 will be prioritised.
As with previous sell-offs, all proceeds from share sales are used to pay down the national debt.
The Treasury has also launched a dedicated campaign webpage for potential investors, where members of the public can pre-register and receive email updates about the sale.
As always, share sales are dependent on market conditions, the government added.
Late in September, the government announced it sold a further 1 per cent shareholding in Lloyds through the trading plan launched in December, taking the total raised for the taxpayer to £15bn.
This means the government’s total shareholding in the banking group is now less than 12 per cent.
peter.walker@ft.com
