The British government has earned STG3.2 billion ($A5.49 billion) from the sale of 6.0 per cent of part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group.

The coalition government had on Monday launched plans to sell part of its stake in bailed-out Lloyds, marking the lender’s first crucial step towards a return to the private sector.

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which manages the state’s bank holdings, said about STG3.211 billion was earned from the sale of Lloyds shares priced at 75 pence each to institutional investors.

Lloyds shares finished at 77.36 pence on Monday ahead of the divestment announcement. That was higher than the 63.1 pence that the coalition government says it needs to break even following the bank’s bailout.

“Further to its announcement on 16 September 2013, UKFI announces the successful completion of the disposal of part of HM Treasury’s shareholding in Lloyds Banking Group,” a statement said on Tuesday.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government’s stake in Lloyds has in turn dropped to about 32.7 per cent from 38.7 per cent.

The government is hoping to eventually recoup STG20 billion of taxpayers’ cash that was ploughed into the group at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Lloyds Banking Group was created by a merger of Lloyds TSB and rival British lender HBOS amid the crisis.

But with HBOS saddled at the time with toxic or high-risk property investments, Lloyds subsequently received a vast state bailout under the then-Labour administration.

British finance minister George Osborne, a member of the Conservatives that is headed by Prime Minister David Cameron, authorised Monday’s part sale.

It comes after Lloyds in August revealed that it had bounced into profit and was looking to resume shareholder dividend payments.