Troy's Brooke puts Woodford cash to work with Lloyds purchase

Troy's Francis Brooke has used inflows into his £1.3bn Trojan Income fund to initiate a position in Lloyds Banking Group ahead of the bank's return to the dividend register.

Brooke (pictured), who joins a number of his UK equity income peers in buying Lloyds, told Investment Week the bank is now "much more attractive", even when the stock's 76% rise over the past year is taken into account. The lender, which Brooke has not owned since 2008, is reportedly targeting payouts equivalent to some 70% of earnings once it restarts dividend payments next year. Trojan Income's cash position remains at around 8% as of 31 October - the same level seen at the end of Q3 - but Brooke said this disguises "quite a lot of activity" as flows into the fund accelerate. Bro...