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Hull City Council has landed profits of more than £1m after selling its shareholding in Kingston Communications. The sale, which was completed successfully by Deutsche Bank AG London on the council's behalf, at a price of 68p per share. The move severs a 10-year involvement between the council and the telephone company. The firm owned 157.5 million shares in total, representing a 30.6% stake. Read more on Hull and Kingston Communications: @ Hull to sell telecoms stake @ Smart move for Kingston @ Shares battle could bring Hull bonanza The council said its decision to sell the remaining stake was made because it was in the ‘best interests' of the city, its people, local businesses, local shareholders, and the company. ‘Retaining a 30.6% stake in the local telecoms provider made little strategic sense to us,' said Cllr Andy Sloan. ‘Given the yield of the shares, and the long-term growth strategy of KC, there was also little incentive for the council to deploy £100m of its scarce capital in a shareholding in one company. While at this stage, it is premature to discuss how this capital can be used for the long-term strategic benefit of the city, it remains the case that this capital can currently provide a better investment income deployed in a diversified, managed portfolio.' The decision to sell the shares came after the results of the recent local government elections, which saw the Liberal Democrats take control of the authority. Kingston Communications confirmed prior to the sale it had received notification from Kingston upon Hull City Council of the council's intention ‘to sell the 157,499,999 ordinary shares it holds in Kingston, inter alia, to market conditions'. Last year, the telecommunications company recorded losses of £80.8m, which stemmed from the company's decision to write down the value of its network infrastructure by £89.5m.

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FINANCE

Hull lands £1m windfall after off-loading shares

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