Lloyds Bank chief says full privatisation ‘within sight’

Lloyds Banking Group chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said a return of the company to full private ownership was “within sight” and praised a plan that allowed the British government to sell shares in the open market.

The government has reduced its stake in the bank, bailed out during the 2007-9 financial crisis, to 18% from 43%. The rate of its sell-down accelerated this year after Morgan Stanley was mandated to sell shares through a trading plan known as a “dribble-out”.

“I personally think that the dribble-out was a really smart thing to do because it enabled the government to sell without any concerns about inside information,” Mr Horta-Osorio told the British Bankers Association’s (BBA) annual retail conference yesterday.