Lloyds Banking Group's shares surged after Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said he aims to start paying out up to 70 per cent of the bank's earnings in dividends within three years, according to the Financial Times.The dividend target comes as Horta-Osório tries to attract investors ahead of the sale of the government's stake. Lloyds is set to start selling shares in the bank after they rose well above the breakeven price of 61p.Horta-Osorio said at half-year results last week that he expects the bank to be a "high dividend" paying stock in the future.He reportedly told investors he was targeting a 70% ratio, significantly above UK rivals and most international peers.Lloyds has not paid a dividend since its rescue of rival HBOS in 2008, when it was bailed out by British taxpayers and ordered to stop payouts.The bank said on Thursday it would talk to regulators about restarting the payouts.The government could sell a quarter of its stake to institutional investors this week, sources told Reuters last week.Bankers said if Lloyds fails to begin the share sale process this week it is likely wait until September due to the market slowdown during the August holiday period.Shares rose 4.38% to 76.96p at 10:20 on Monday.RD