Shares expected to rise in London, as Lloyds Banking Group confirms it is floating its TSB arm on the stock market
City unshaken by electoral shake-up
Free shares on offer in TSB float
8.20am BST
*AstraZeneca* is leading the FTSE 100 fallers this morning, down to £42.70, after *Pfizer* announced yesterday afternoon that it had walked away from its takeover bid.
But the US firm could return in six months for another nibble at the 'jewel in the crown' of UK pharmaceuticals. This battle may not be over...
8.17am BST
As expected, shares are rising in London this morning as the City catches up with the rest of Europe (who didn't get a bank holiday on Monday):
*The FTSE 100 is up 22 points,* or 0.3%, to 6,838 as traders get their first chance to react to the weekend's election results.
8.09am BST
Lloyd's will sell 25% of TSB. 15-20% of shares will go to retail investors. So public will end up with 4-5% of overall bank stock
8.05am BST
TSB is also indemnified from potential future losses through mis-selling scandals such as Personal Protection Insurance, it says:
TSB comes with clean balance sheet and is protected by indemnity from Lloyds against historical conduct-related losses
TSB CEO: TSB has 6% of retail bank branches in the UK but only 4.2% of current account market, expects to grow its share over time
8.02am BST
Speaking to reporters now, *TSB* chief Paul Pester says that 15-20% of its float will probably go to small investors rather than City firms.
TSB is also taking customer from "every major bank in UK" at present, but doesn't expect to pay a dividend until 2017.
TSB has 4.2% share of current accounts. Paul Pester says it will take 5 years to grow to 6%. 80% of accounts still opened in branches.
7.47am BST
*Lloyds Banking Group is defying fears of flotation fatigue in the City, by announcing plans to launch its TSB banking division on the stock market.*
TSB has a national network of branches, a strong balance sheet and significant economic protection against legacy issues. It is already operating on the UK high street and is proving to be a strong and effective challenger, further enhancing competition in the UK banking sector."
TSB IPO: There will be a retail offer. Public will be rewarded with bonus shares if they keep their stake for 12 months
7.41am BST
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The EU parliament elections were a political earthquake, but the City is refusing to be shaken by the sight of anti-establishment and extremist parties making stunning gains in parts of Europe.
The weekend European elections dont appear to have had that much effect on markets despite a large anti EU vote in a number of countries, particularly in the UK, France, Greece and Denmark.
The reality is that the outcome of these elections has very little bearing on what is likely to happen with respect to economic policy in the various European capitals which are striving to engineer an economic recovery, though European politicians will ignore the message being sent by voters at their peril.
Looking ahead to European trade, the major bourses are mostly pointing lower, with the exception of the FTSE which was closed yesterday and as a result missed out on the big gains across the region.
The MIB rallied quite significantly led by the banks and it is likely to be the weakest performer at the open as it gives back some of these gains.
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Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 minutes ago.