UK raises £500m through sale of Lloyds shares

London - Britain's finance ministry said on Monday it had raised £500m through the sale of a further 1% stake in Lloyds Banking Group, taking its stake to below 24%.

The sale moves Lloyds another step towards a full return to private ownership after Britain pumped £20bn into the bank during the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009, leaving it with a 41% shareholding.

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which manages the government's stakes in bailed out banks, hired Morgan Stanley in December to sell Lloyds shares on the stock market through a "pre-arranged trading plan".