Sale of Lloyds shares on cards

British finance minister George Osborne is preparing to use a speech to the City of London to signal a sale in shares of taxpayer- backed Lloyds Banking Group.

Next on his agenda will be Ulster Bank owner Royal Bank of Scotland.

Osborne will use his Mansion House speech on Jun 19 to reveal the sell-off of the 39% chunk of the bank owned by the state and worth around £17bn (€20bn), according to The Sunday Times.