Antonio Horta-Osorio, the owner of state-backed Lloyds Banking Group has secured a long-term bonus worth more than £2 million after the company's shares remained strong.

Antonio Horta-Osorio will now receive three million shares in the company after the shares of the company above the 73.6p level for more than 30 days. The share price of 73.6p is the same at which is the same level at which the government paid to bail out the bank during the financial crisis in 2008. The shares of the banking group were trading at around 80.37p on Friday, remaining above the mark for three weeks.

According to media reports, the bonus pay-outs might be more than £2.5 million but he will not be able to claim the money until the year 2018. Mr Horta-Osorio, a Portuguese-born banker, had joined the British banking giant in
2011. He oversaw the sale of the first tranche of the government stake in the bank in 2012.

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Treasury unit that manages the government stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, had sold 6 per cent of the issued share capital of the banking group in the market. Chancellor George Osborne had indicated that the government will soon start selling its holding in the Lloyds Banking Group.