BRITISH GOVERNMENT AGAIN REDUCES STAKE IN LLOYDS BANKING GROUP

The British government took significant stakes in Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland after the lenders received billions of pounds as part of a bailout during the financial crisis.

LONDON — The British government has further reduced its stake in theLloyds Banking Group for the second time in less than a month, the lender said on Monday.

The government, which is keen to reduce its holdings in Lloyds, announced in December that it would engage in a measured sale of a portion of its stake in the bank as part of a prearranged trading plan that runs through the end of June.

The British government took significant stakes in Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland after the lenders received billions of pounds as part of a bailout during the financial crisis.

On Monday, Lloyds said that the government had reduced its stake in the company to 22.98 percent, which followed the sale of another portion of its stake in late February. The British government had a 24.9 percent stake in the bank when it announced the new trading program in December.

“Today’s announcement shows further progress made in returning Lloyds Banking Group to full private ownership and enabling the taxpayer to get their money back,” a Lloyds spokesman said in a news release.

The government held as much as a 40 percent stake in the British lender, but it has reduced its holdings since September 2013 as the bank’s prospects have improved.

Last month, Lloyds said that it returned to an annual profit in 2014 and would return 535 million pounds, or about $804 million, to shareholders in its first dividend since the bailout.

Lloyds received £17 billion from the British government in the bailout.

The New York Times