Standard Life Shares

EdInvestor

Should be a nice bounce in the insurance sector tomorrow then

Ian_W

gt94sss2 wrote:

Edit: If the rumour is true, I make it as worth somewhere in the region of £3.35/3.40 a share..
Regards
Sunil

Now that would be something to smile about.

cheggers

Ian_W wrote:

Story in this mornings Sunday Express [can't find a link] suggesting that AXA, having failed to land Scottish Widows, was now intersted in buying SL.

£3 a share anyone?

I'll accept £3 a share from AXA, if they guarantee to pay the share bonus that Standard Life was supposed to after a year.

DocProc

There are 2,105.75m 'SL.' Shares in Issue (26/10/06)

For a share price of £2.84 (26/0/06) the Market Cap was about £6b
so
For SL. to fetch £7b, which was the amount mentioned in the link above that AXA were rumoured to be about to spend, the share price has to be about £3.30.

5% extra shares is the value of the bonus issue to holders who keep the shares for at least one year.

For an SP of £3.30, this is about 16.5 p

And then there is also the dividend payment to consider but I'm not sure what percentage payout this is.

ReportInvestor

Hi everyone,

Back in circulation after a couple of weeks necessary recuperation / respite from MSE .

I'm still holding. Hypothetical talk of a possible 335p/340p bid :j reminds me of a link I gave you a couple of weeks back to the IA's Peter Lockie, who was comparing the relative value of Scottish Widows & Standard Life from a predator's perspective.

345p for a knock-out bid for Standard - "Now you're talking"

We certainly would be . A word of caution, though. This unsourced Reuters/Express rumour - like many - looks like an old story reheated.

gt94sss2

DocProc wrote:

And then there is also the dividend payment to consider but I'm not sure what percentage payout this is.

I believe the the forecast dividend in May 2007 was 5.4p/share

Regards
Sunil

ReportInvestor

And the higher the share price goes, the bigger the 5% bonus could be.

It was 11.5p on flotation, 12p after day 1, 14.5p now and 17p @ 340p .

The only problem with a 335p offer before April is that it would leave me with capital gains tax "problems" :rolleyes:. But I imagine I could cope .

But back to the rumour Yahoo link

It hit Axa shares on Monday am but

"..... Brokers were sceptical, however, with Merrill Lynch saying it believes the story is 'very unlikely,' while Cheuvreux described the report as having 'below average credibility'......"

Does that mean it appeared in the Express,, rather than the FT?

mad

Just read this on Guardian Unlimited market report regarding the rumour..

Back in London the one bluechip that managed to gain significant ground was Edinburgh-based insurer Standard Life after reports that French insurance group Axa is considering a bid. Shares in Standard Life gained 4.5p, or 1.6%, to 287.5p by mid-afternoon, making them the biggest gainer in the FTSE 100.

In addition the article goes on...

Dealers said the rise in the shares might also be on the back of the imminent departure of finance director Alison Reed. There is speculation that her successor will be David Nish of Scottish Power. Is that good?

Anyway, I am still in for my £3 a share if the rumours keep circulating

ReportInvestor

Nish is reckoned to be a good City communicator as far as FDs go.

The Nish story has been around for about 3 weeks

But the FT now thinks an announcement could be imminent, which is why the story has re-emerged.

The key thing for the City & the shares is the removal of uncertainty about the future management team, and this could be an important piece in the jigsaw. I've not read any derogatory comments about Nish, which is a good start, although his background is not insurers.

Gorgeous_George

I'm still in as well though I know I shouldn't get greedy and expect too much.

Interesting times will continue. I don't have a portfolio so the share-owning risk is greater but I would hope that I could bail out in good time if the shares go into freefall.

I'm watching two lots of shares at the moment with CSR being the others. They are mad!



GG