Ally Financial wants government to speed up share sales

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ally Financial Inc , the auto lender partially owned by the U.S. Treasury, said on Tuesday that it would like to see the government reduce its stake in the company faster.

"A complete exit by Treasury is absolutely the number one issue" for the company reaching its profitability targets and boosting shareholder value, Ally Chief Executive Michael Carpenter said on Tuesday at an investor conference in New York hosted by Barclays Plc.

"We'd like to see it move faster," Carpenter also said, adding that he still thinks the government will sell its remaining 16 percent stake in the company by the end of the year. Carpenter added he may be "going out on a limb" by predicting that.

In August, Treasury said it would wind down its investment in Ally according to a pre-determined plan.

Carpenter also said the company was running ahead of its goal to reach a double-digit return on equity by the end of 2015. Return on equity is a measure of how efficiently the company generates income from its net assets.

(Reporting by Peter Rudegeair; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)