Osborne to signal Lloyds retail share sale

Chancellor George Osborne is to highlight a forthcoming sale of Lloyds Banking Group shares to retail investors in the Autumn Statement, according to reports.

A "major retail offering" will be flagged in Thursday's statement, according to Sky News, though no timetable is likely to be mentioned. The move follows on from the government's recent unloading of a 6% stake in the business, which took its holding in the state-owned bank from 39% to 33%. That sale was to institutions, but Osborne is likely to signal his intention to launch a retail sale some time in the coming months. A formal announcement is "unlikely" until after Lloyds signals it has been given regulatory approval to resume dividends in its full-year results in February, the n...