Lloyds to sell Spanish retail operations to Banco Sabadell

UK lender Lloyds is to dispose of its loss-making Spanish retail and private banking operations in an effort to continue its strategy of 'rationalising' its overseas presence and ensuring best value for shareholders, the group said on Monday.

Lloyds Bank International and Lloyds Investment Espana SGIIC, which had total assets of £1.5bn at March 31st, are to be sold to Spanish peer Banco Sabadell for a mix of shares and cash.

The businesses being sold consist mostly of retail mortgages and deposits, with a large portion of non-resident clients.

Lloyds is to hold on to its corporate banking operations in Spain serving business clients.

Under the agreement, Lloyds will receive 53.7m shares in Sabadell, equal to a 1.8% stake valued at €84m (£72m). An additional €20m (17m) will be paid within five years subject to future mortgage book margins.

The bank said that cash proceeds from the sale will be used for "general corporate purposes".

The Spanish businesses reported a loss of around £43m in 2012, which included a 90% jump in the impairment provision as a percentage of impaired loans.

"The sale of the business is currently expected to lead to a loss on disposal of approximately £250m in the group's accounts," Lloyds said.