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Report: UK could sell more RBS shares by September

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Report: UK could sell more RBS shares by September

The U.K. government could off-load more of its shareholding in Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC by September and ultimately trim its stake in the bank to below 50% by 2018-end, a senior source told The Times of London.

It comes after the government sold a 7.7% stake in RBS at 271 pence per share, cutting its shareholding in the lender to 62.4% from 70.1%. The proceeds from the sale total about £2.51 billion but it still implies a loss of about £2.14 billion given that the government paid 502 pence per share when it nationalized the bank during the financial crisis.

Although Britain agreed on a 90-calendar-day lockup period, it can still sell more stock in RBS if underwriters would agree to forgo such clause, The Times noted. A further sale could also result from any signal from RBS of its intention to pay its first dividend since its bailout along with first-half results in August, according to the report.

RBS CEO Ross McEwan said in early May that he would like the bank to start distributing dividends in the next six to 12 months.