The chancellor has today (4 December) extended the Lloyds Banking Group trading plan for a further six months.
So far the scheme has helped the government to recover more than £9bn for the taxpayer, reducing the government’s remaining stake in Lloyds to around 9 per cent.
It will now be stopped before the launch of the retail sale of Lloyds shares in the spring.
Shares have been sold through the trading plan for an average price of over 81p, well above the average 73.6p originally paid for the shares.
The trading plan will now end no later than 30 June, but may be stopped earlier, for example to ensure the government holds sufficient shares for the retail offer.
It was previously extended at the start of June this year and by the end of September the trading plan - launched last December - had taken the total raised to £15bn.
All proceeds from share sales will be used to reduce the national debt. Morgan Stanley will continue to act as broker on behalf of HM Treasury to execute the trading plan.
peter.walker@ft.com
