Royal Mail Share Offer

Covered End

The price is £2.60 - £3.30. They will decide after you apply.

Any experts on here, think it's worth doing ?

As it will be over subscribed, I'm thinking it may be a nice little earner, but in that case they may price it at the top.

I've read the prospectus, I'm just looking for some expert opinions.

NB Please let's not have a row about the merits or otherwise. The Daily Mail thread is enough for the political disagreements.

AFKABartram

Are they planning to Tell Sid ?

WSS

Minimum is £750 isn't it?

Covered End

Yes.

https://www.gov.uk/royalmailshares

Mendonca In Asdas

A so called expert on the radio said not to touch them with a bargepole.

WSS

Had a quick look. The 7% dividend is appealing but not sure about the long-term with it. Not an expert by any means though, looking online people seem to be split.

Friend Or Defoe

We already own it...

cafcfan

I have bought and made profits from such share issues in the past.
I'm not doing this one. Just have a bad feeling about it. It seems too risky to me.
(Plus point is the parcel business but that's heavily competitive. Negative point is regular post which continues its steady decline, now that people/firms have different and quicker ways to communicate. (How long before the Charlton season ticket application packs are available in paperless form, for example? Next, there'll be no need to send out season ticket books - just download the app and scan your 'phone at the turnstile!)
One interesting point though.
If, and it's a big if, the price is at the top end, then its market capitalisation will have it teetering on the brink of the FTSE 100. That index is next reviewed in December I think when there will be the usual promotions/demotions from the top 100 companies.
If it were to make it into the FSTE 100 index all the tracker funds would be obliged to buy the stock. That would support its share price and maybe induce a small increase.

Covered End

I bought Vodafone over 10 years ago, thinking all the tracker funds would need them. I'm still waiting to get my money back :-(

Valley27000

Royal mail delivers 80 million items a day.I think Xmas it goes up to 120 million a day,people order a lot of parcels these days and the royal mail do free re delivery but the government should not sell it as it made a £400m profit.It will go on the stock exchange and raise £2billion or more.The bigger picture is its worth £20billion because of the pension pot.Also nine elms site to be sold for £500m straight to the share holders pocket.Think about all those leaflets we get royal mail make a big profit for them as they pay there staff peanuts to deliver them I heard,The average postperson delivers seven bags of mail a day and lots of packets.

Starinnaddick

I bought several new issues in the past and sold fairly quickly to make a quick profit i.e William Hill but a lot of people got their fingers badly burned when Betfair floated. Anyone who held on has lost even more money.

I listened to a so called expert saying that although employees are getting 10% of the shares free the shares could dive from the issue price if they go ahead with the threatened strike.

The big question is,will there be an immediate rise from the issue price .

I would not personally buy as I want to know what the price is going to be. £2.60 - £3.30 is too vague.

WSS

When people say it's a good 'short term' bet. What do they mean? How short is short? Literally selling once listed?

Starinnaddick

They are hoping the big institutions will want to buy and immediately push the price up from the issue price.

Mortimerician

WSS said:

Had a quick look. The 7% dividend is appealing but not sure about the long-term with it. Not an expert by any means though, looking online people seem to be split.

could you explain the 7% dividend bit?

I thought they didn't know the going in price yet. Guaranteeing a dividend that is about 4 times the interest you can get from the best account in a high street bank, regardless of profit seems too good to be true.

Despite being a city wanker I've never really approved of public flotations. Always seem to be an exercise in flogging off the family silver to their chums while dropping a few crumbs to the plebs allowing them to make a couple of hundred quid to take their mind off the fact that someone else has properly got their snout in the trough. It's never really good for the service users, but they usually make a few quid for investors.

mickc

I have a offer to invest but I am not convinced it is a secure investment, email, faxing and other forms of communication have ruined the postage stamp which leaves the parcel division to support the Royal Mail and we know that is huge.
If I decide to invest it will only be to sell immediately they are floated with a chance of an share price increase, have until Tuesday morning to make up my mind.

Addickted

Give it a week after flotation, then buy.

All those posties cashing in on their 'windfall' is bound to lower the price in the short term.

Killarahales

I've put in for some, I have no "expert" view. It's a gamble, like any other investment in shares. A lot of posties might sell, but on the other hand they might keep them and take a slightly different view on "their" company. Certainly in my Whitbread days, most people in the company that got shares started to think a little bit differently, about things like quality, costs, and profit

TelMc32

Addickted said:

Give it a week after flotation, then buy.

All those posties cashing in on their 'windfall' is bound to lower the price in the short term.

Was with a friend the other night & she mentioned the float as her husband works for the Royal Mail. The workers have been allocated 2000 free shares, but can't sell for 3 years!

Addickted

They've also been given options that they can get rid of.

TelMc32

Addickted said:

They've also been given options that they can get rid of.

Yes they have. From what I hear they haven't been too keen on taking them up.

da2 addick

We can opt out having the shares but if we take them Can not sell for three years.

newyorkaddick

I've just applied for more than I want on the assumption that I get scaled back.

@Mortimerician, the dividend yield is simply the dividend divided by the share price - I agree that 7% seems high but it can be 'solved' in two ways - either the dividend is cut or the share price goes up.

Dippenhall

Just remember that this flotation is to get rid of a problem for the taxpayer. It is a gravy train for the banks and lawyers who are paid zillions for promising to buy any unsold shares. Creating a feeding frenzy and the idea that there is free profits to be made is all part of the hype to make sure the gamblers and not the banks are bearing all the risk.

Leroy Ambrose

Exactly. I think anyone expecting to buy the shares and flip them quickly for a fast profit might be in for a rude surprise. Haven't read too much about the terms of the shares the employees are getting - surely it will be restricted stock, vesting after a certain amount of time or service? Otherwise i'd imagine most of them will sell at 9.01 on day one - post is absolutely dead as an industry, and their parcel service is pretty shit - the onething it has going for it is that its pretty cheap (something that will have to change to compete effectively, which will see them haemhorrage customers)

Covered End

I might be in for a rude surprise, but I just applied, as stockbrokers yesterday, were expecting the shares to start trading at £4.

I suspect it will be priced at £3.30, but hey, nothing ventured.

Online applications close at midnight tonight.

TelMc32

A colleague applied yesterday as she believes that the property portfolio (apparently valued at over £1BN) and the 7% divi are good reason to invest. We agree with Leroy that the business itself is shot, but there are certainly upsides for those looking for a return on their money.

Unfortunately, those who benefit most will be those with the deep pockets who don't need to benefit!

sm

Roll up roll up Government handout to all who can afford to subscribe for the shares. Don't worry we can all continue to fund the Pension scheme which was conveniently transferred to HMT.

If local councillors were caught selling council assets on the cheap to their friends and supporters they would be surcharged and banned from office - these rules apparently do not apply to central government however. Can we assume that the investment bankers who advised on the issue price will not be getting a fee since they didn't act in the best interests of the seller?

WSS

So everyone has got £749.10 worth of shares. If you tried to get over £10k plus - zilch.

charltonkeston

As all the other industries " we" use own have done so well for the shareholders and consumers since being floated I'm expecting the RM to do the same.
This must be the last of the silver in the cupboard.

Friend Or Defoe

Indeed, I hope a few people enjoy their small windfall at the cost of another public service. If you want a good investment tip, stock up on 60p 1st class stamps as their price will be flying up as the service gets worse.

WSS

Sell, sell, sell!