LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Lloyds banking group ispreparing a new offer of shares to the public and is indiscussions with regulators over resuming dividend payments inthe second half of 2014.
In a statement on Monday, the state-backed bank said it hasstarted preparing for a possible share sale and it is aiming fora dividend payout ratio in the medium term of at least 50percent of sustainable earnings.
Lloyds also said it achieved an underlying profit of 6.2billion pounds in 2013 and expects to announced a "smallstatutory profit before tax" when it publishes full yearearnings on February 13.
It also said its results reflect a further provisions takenin the fourth quarter of 1.8 billion punds for legacy PaymentProtection Insurance business, and 130 million pounds relatingto the sale of interest rate hedging products to small andmedium sized businesses.