The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury Below 17%

Britain has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) to below 16 percent, taking the total raised through the sale of the government's shares in the bank to more than 12.5 billion pounds ($19.5 billion).

Lloyds said on Thursday that Britain's finance ministry had reduced its stake to 15.9 percent, from 16.9 percent, in a further step towards its full privatisation which is expected next year.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/03/uk-lloyds-sale-idUKKCN0PC0EL20150703

"The government's remaining stake is worth 9.9 billion pounds at current share prices. It is expected to offer retail investors the chance to participate in an offer of several billion pounds worth of Lloyds shares next year."
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At the rate of disposals that share sale to the public will likely come this year
rather than next!

Societe Generale Buy 84.98 98.00 102.00 Reiterates

Canaccord Genuity Buy 84.98 70.00 100.00 Upgrades

Gvnt holding now down below 15%
That didn't take long for the last 1% drop.

Better late than never.......I suppose! (Though sacrificial lambs springs to mind if things go wrong).

"StockMarketWire.com
Lloyds Banking Group has established a Responsible Business Committee of the Board.

Sara Weller has been appointed as the chairman of the new committee and its other members will be Lord Blackwell, the Group chairman, and Anita Frew, deputy chairman.

Ms. Weller said: "The creation of the new Board-level Responsible Business Committee is a further demonstration of our commitment to put customers and communities at the heart of everything we do. The Board remains focused on ensuring that the Group makes the right decisions for the right reasons."

Nomura Buy 87.55 100.00 103.00 Reiterates

Swines!

Exane BNP Paribas Outperform 86.86 100.00 95.00 Reiterates

StockMarketWire.com
Lloyds Banking Group has agreed the sale of a portfolio of Irish commercial loans to a consortium comprising Ennis Property Finance Limited, an entity affiliated to Goldman Sachs; Feniton Property Finance Limited, an entity affiliated to CarVal; and Bank of Ireland, for £827m. The gross assets subject to the transaction are c.£2.6 billion, of which £2.3 billion were impaired and in the year to 31 December 2014 they generated pre tax losses of c.£130 million.

The sale proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on the Group but will be capital accretive (c.7bps).

'o' buys on one page: 500K 80K 60K 57K

Nice buys!

I had to put the CNA money somewhere! :-)

I have a very large empty pocket if you need help!

Eer - let me think about that!

When stock is 'mopped up' at the mid price, one would mostly suppose it goes to 'friends of the broker/company'.

Interims tomorrow!

7am skinny!

Hope they are better than RBS !

Half Yearly Report

Improvement in underlying and statutory profit with balance sheet further strengthened
· Underlying profit of £4,383 million, an increase of 15 per cent on the first half of 2014
· Total income up 2 per cent to £8,968 million1
− Net interest income of £5,715 million, up 6 per cent, primarily driven by margin improvement to 2.62 per cent
− Other income lower at £3,253 million, largely due to disposals and run-off, but up 4 per cent in last quarter
· Operating costs flat after increased investment; cost:income ratio improved by 0.7 percentage points to 48.3 per cent
· Impairment charge down 75 per cent to £179 million; asset quality ratio improved 21 basis points to 0.09 per cent
· Underlying return on required equity of 16.2 per cent, up 2.2 percentage points on the first half of 2014
· Statutory profit before tax up 38 per cent to £1,193 million (2014: £863 million), including charge of £1,400 million for PPI and £660 million charge relating to the disposal of TSB
· Statutory return on required equity of 3.7 per cent, up 0.6 percentage points on the first half of 2014
· Strong balance sheet and liquidity position with a CET1 ratio of 13.3 per cent (31 Dec 2014: 12.8 per cent); a total capital ratio of 21.7 per cent; and a leverage ratio of 4.9 per cent
· Tangible net assets per share post dividend of 53.5 pence (31 Dec 2014: 54.9 pence)

Continued focus on supporting customers and the UK economy through the successful delivery of our strategy
· Creating the best customer experience through multi-channel, multi-brand strategy and increased investment in digital; key customer satisfaction metrics continue to improve, with net promoter scores up 3 points this year and by 60 per cent since 2010
· Continue to become simpler and more efficient through process redesign and automation; run-rate savings of £225 million in the new Simplification programme and we remain on track to deliver the targeted savings of £1 billion by the end of 2017
· Delivering sustainable growth in key customer segments over last 12 months
− Meeting our Helping Britain Prosper Plan commitments by supporting 1 in 4 first-time buyers and 1 in 5 new business start-ups
− Net lending of £1.5 billion to SMEs, up 5 per cent and ahead of the market
− UK Consumer Finance lending growth of 17 per cent, with 34 per cent growth in motor finance
· Completion of sale of TSB to Banco Sabadell will enable the Group to meet its commitment to the European Commission ahead of the mandated deadline
· UK government stake reduced to less than 15 per cent (as at 15 July 2015)

Guidance for 2015 net interest margin and asset quality ratio improved with other guidance reconfirmed
· Net interest margin for the full year improved to around 2.60 per cent
· Full year asset quality ratio improved to around 15 basis points (previously around 25 basis points)
· Continue to expect other income to be broadly stable in 2015
· Continue to expect full year cost:income ratio to be lower than full year 2014 ratio of 49.8 per cent

Dividend
· Interim dividend of 0.75 pence per share amounting to £535 million
· Further guidance on capital and dividend policy

1 Total income, operating costs and impairment exclude TSB.


more....

'Today's results demonstrate the strong progress we have made in the first half of the year. The improvement in our profitability and capital position has enabled the Group to announce an interim dividend payment of 0.75 pence per share to our shareholders. We remain focused on our aim to become the best bank for customers and shareholders while at the same time supporting the UK economy.'

Statutory profit before tax up 38 per cent to £1,193 million (2014: £863 million), including charge of £1,400 million for PPI and £660 million charge relating to the disposal of TSB

No news flag on stockwatch :-(