Flotation plan boosts Lloyds

SHARES in Lloyds Banking Group soared after it was revealed the part-nationalised bank is moving towards flotation of 632 branches it is trying to sell.

There have been doubts among financial experts whether current attempts to auction the portfolio of branches – which includes the 185 Lloyds TSB Scotland outlets and Edinburgh-based Intelligence Finance operations – could deliver an acceptable price.

But news that the group is looking at the alternative of floating the assets separately on the stock exchange led to a 5.3 per cent surge in share price.