Lloyds Banking Group PLC is selling its remaining stake in booming investment company St. James's Place for a gain of GBP95 million. This was according to a report published by The Independent.
The UK-based bank, which 32% owned by taxpayers, has been selling its shares progressively. Last night, the institution finally announced it will be offloading its final 21% stake in the investment firm, the report said.
According to Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio, the investment in St. James's was not central to Lloyds but was facing a dilemma. He said St. James's has just secured another GBP1 billion of investors' cash and this should add to the returns for shareholders, the report explained.
Horta-Osorio said Lloyds needed to focus more on its clients in core retail and commercial banking. He also said the company needs to free up cash. Yesterday, Lloyds sold GBP90 million of commercial property loans to Cerberus, a private equity group. Last year, the said loans generated GBP1 million in profit, The Independent reported.
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