Taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group is sitting on a loss of almost £500m from its exposure to property group Targetfollow, despite selling off its most high-profile assets.

Administrators to two collapsed Targetfollow subsidiaries have raised £341m from the sale of properties such as Centre Point in London's West End, but this has only cut Lloyds' loss to £486m.

Targetfollow was founded by entrepreneur Ardeshir Naghshineh, who attempted to buy Woolworths, but the subsidiaries' debts mean Lloyds is facing one of the largest single property losses from the recession, reports Property Week.

The latest administrators' report to Targetfollow Property Holdings and Targetfollow Property Investment & Development shows Lloyds was originally owed £827m, including roughly £150m from an out-of-the-money interest rate swap.

There are more than 15 properties still to offload, but Deloitte says it will not reveal the estimated sales proceeds because of "commercial sensitivities".

However, most of the remaining properties are thought to be outside London and are not as valuable as Centre Point or International House, which was bought by Gerald Ronson's investment club for £63m. Therefore, Lloyds potentially faces a final loss of close to......Read more HERE on this story