Lloyds shares fell 2.8p, or 4%, to 66.45p, well below the average 73.6p paid by the taxpayer in 2009’s £20 billion bailout.
The share fall was blamed on the £800 million charge for buying back £3 billion of retail bonds in the quarter, which Lloyds said would save it £200 million a year in interest costs.
The taxpayer still has a 9.2% stake but the Chancellor was forced in January to postpone plans for a public sale of shares because stock markets went into freefall. Any revival of that plan is unlikely to happen until after the referendum on the EU on June 23.
For once, Lloyds made no increase on the massive £16 billion it has put aside for PPI mis-selling.
