Lloyds Banking Group may look to sell its majority stake in St James’s Place, the London-based wealth manager, amid concerns from the latter’s shareholders that the business is not fulfilling its full potential with Lloyds as a large stakeholder, The Telegraph reports.

St James’s Place is widely expected to report this week that its full-year profits have nearly doubled, according to analyst predictions cited by the newspaper, and this is piling added pressure on Lloyds to sell its 60 per cent in the firm.

Lloyds, like many financial institutions around the world, is looking to increase its Tier 1 capital provision as a buffer against possible future financial crises, and is mulling the sale of a number of assets in order to comply with European Union rules on banks which received state funds.

The board of St James’s Place has appointed Lazard to evaluate its options in the event that Lloyds decides to sell its stake, according to the report.

Representatives of St James’s Place declined to comment on the matter when contacted by WealthBriefing.