Lloyds in talks on £6 billion shipping loan sale – report

Part-nationalised British bank Lloyds(LLOY.L) is in talks about selling a 6 billion pounds portfolio of shipping industry loans, Sky News said on Thursday.Lloyds is due to receive offers for the portfolio imminently, with interest likely to come from a number of Japanese and other Asian banks, the broadcaster said.The sale process does not include the leases on ships owned by Lloyds, it added.A Lloyds spokesman declined to comment on the report.The British government owns around 41 percent of Lloyds and 83 percent of rival Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) after bailing out both banks with billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money during the credit crisis.As a result of the bailout, RBS and Lloyds were ordered by regulators to sell off some assets and trim their balance sheets. – Reuters