Lloyds Banking Group Plc agreed to sell its loss-making Halifax estate agency business for a token 1 pound ($1.62) and will shed a further 360 jobs in the process, the part-nationalised British lender said on Friday.
Analysts and industry insiders said the sale would have no impact on a European Union probe into the bank's reliance on state aid, which could result in it being ordered to make large-scale disposals.
"I think it's just a tidying up exercise of a business which is now seen as non-core," said Simon Willis, banks analyst at NCB Stockbrokers.
The Halifax estate agency is being sold to LSL Property Services, owner of the Your Move, Reeds Rains and Intercounty property chains.
LSL will take over Halifax's 218 branches, becoming the country's second-biggest estate agent with a 584-strong branch network.
But Lloyds, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, said it would keep the Halifax brand, the name under which it offers home loans.
Lloyds shares were up 3 percent at 94.2 pence by 0840 GMT, while LSL shares were 5 percent higher at 282.75 pence.
The bank, facing a probe by EU competition regulators after handing a 43 percent stake to the British state in return for a 17 billion pound ($27.61 billion) government bailout last year, added that the disposal would not have a material effect on its accounts.
There has been speculation that Lloyds could sell assets including its Scottish Widows and Clerical & Medical insurance businesses to allay EU regulatory concerns, and to raise capital to facilitate its exit from a costly government-backed scheme to insure it against credit losses.
Lloyds declined to comment on whether the Halifax disposal would affect the EU investigation.
The sale of the Halifax estate agency will result in the loss of 360 jobs as banking counters operating within estate agency branches are closed, Lloyds said.
Of the remaining 1,050 estate agency staff, 171 will not be going over to LSL, LSL Chief Executive Simon Embley told reporters on a conference call.
In a separate statement, LSL said it had performed ahead of management's expectations since July 1, amid a slightly improving housing market, but said it remains cautious about the outlook for 2010.
