Commenting on the UK Government reducing its stake in Lloyds to 20 per cent Mark Taylor, Dean of Warwick Business School Professor of Finance and former Bank of England economist, said: "This is good news for UK taxpayers and stands in stark contrast to the fortunes of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
"Taxpayers took a 40 per cent stake in Lloyds at the height of the banking crisis, pumping £20bn into it in order to avoid its collapse, which would have had serious consequences for the financial sector.
"Around half of that money has now been repaid and the Government’s holding has also been cut in half, to about 20%, so at this rate taxpayers are on course to get all of their money back. In fact, with Lloyds offering such an improved financial performance, there is a likelihood of a stronger share price going forward so that there may even be a profit for the taxpayer on the sale of the remaining 20% Government stake.
"RBS, meanwhile, is still 80% Government-owned and is reporting losses. This reflects both the scale of the difficulties that RBS had got into as well as the strong management and leadership at Lloyds over the past few years."
