The British government said on Thursday it has further reduced its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, a day after the bank posted its highest profit since before the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.

UK Financial Investments, which manages the government’s stake in the lender, said in a statement it has reduced its stake in the bank to 3.567 per cent.

Lloyds, which was rescued with a 20.5 billion pound taxpayer bailout, is close to a complete recovery from its crisis-era past after more than doubling its profit last year and setting aside a lower amount to cover misconduct issues.