Charlie Nunn (pictured), the Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, is getting his spring cleaning done early.

Ahead of the full-year results of Britain's biggest high street lender, to be announced next month, Nunn is busily reshaping the company, exiting areas where it is sub-scale or which don't fit its core strategic objectives.

The former HSBC executive has already initiated a process to sell its £6bn bulk annuities portfolio, with the likes of Royal London and Rothesay showing interest.

I also understand, however, that Lloyds is exploring the sale of a separate portfolio of Scottish Widows assets in the form of a Luxembourg-based portfolio of approximately 50,000 German, Austrian and Italian legacy clients.

The prospective disposal encompasses investment policies under the Clerical Medical brand, one insider said, and accounts for about €2bn in assets under administration.

Its value - probably in the region of £150m - means it represents no more than a piece of tidying-up for Nunn. Lloyds will retain the portfolio if it cannot get sufficient value for it, the insider said.

Regardless, after the repayment of its £1.16bn loan to the Barclay family, Lloyds will have a big enough sweetener for shareholders come the end of next month.

(c) 2024 City A.M., source Newspaper