LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 24, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Lloyds TSB Bank PLC's (Lloyds TSB; AA/Negative/A-1+) proposed sale of its subsidiary National Bank of New Zealand Ltd. (A+/Watch Pos/A-1) to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (AA-/Stable/A-1+) will not affect the ratings on Lloyds TSB. Standard&Poor's will, however, evaluate the impact of the expected proceeds on capital policy and retained earnings. Lloyds TSB has not yet announced how it would deploy the estimated £1.1 billion increase in reserves that would result from the transaction. The sale is expected to complete by year-end, and is fully consistent with Lloyds TSB's strategy to focus on its core U.K. businesses. The negative outlook on Lloyds
