Lloyds Bailout Nets U.K. $1.2 Billion as Government Exits

  • Bank was bailed out in the darkest moments of financial crisis
  • Chairman says there is more work to do to transform lender

Pedestrians cross the road near a head office site of Lloyds Banking Group Plc, that housed the HBOS Plc London trading floor, center, in London, on Feb. 4, 2016.

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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The U.K. government sold its last remaining shares in Lloyds Banking Group Plc, bringing Britain’s biggest mortgage lender back into full private ownership almost a decade after it was bailed out in the depths of the financial crisis.

The Treasury made a profit of 894 million pounds ($1.2 billion) on its original 20.3 billion-pound investment after disposing of its final 0.25 percent in the bank over recent days, Lloyds said in a statement on Wednesday. The London-based lender said the sale marked the final step in its turnaround, although more work is required.