New delay for Lloyds bank rights issue
As we covered yesterday, Lloyds bank is on the verge of a multibillion pound fundraising exercise which will bring in £11 billion from shareholders and £12 billion in refinancing. However, after yesterday's jubilation that the deal was effectively done, the company has let it be known to those in the "know" that official clearance from the UK Treasury may not come until the end of this week.
This is a saga which has continued for months and not only is it infuriating to UK investors, taxpayers and the government, but it is also starting to have a drag on the company's banking operations. Far too much of the directors time has been taken up chasing this fundraising which is needed to revitalise the balance sheet and effectively "cancel" the earlier agreement to join the government's asset protection scheme.
Investors are now at a stage where they will believe it when the deal is done and the longer it goes on the more impact it will have on the share price and ultimately the fundraising itself. There are some who believe that Lloyds bank has effectively "missed the boat" with the UK banking sector starting to drop away after a relatively good run for share prices.
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