RBS Shares

louisj

Can someone tell me what the likely outcome will be regarding RBS shares. I inherited quite a lot about 15 years ago, and foolishly believed (as they were a bank) that they were safe. The divis were good and I saw no reason to sell them. Big mistake. BUT, I still have them and they are worth about a tenth what they were and obviously there have been no divis for about 2 years. Is my money lost forever? should I just hang on and hope for the best? Will the loan from the taxpayers be paid off, and if so, will the dividends be re-instated?

Linton

I expect that at some time the government will be able to sell off their RBS shares at a large profit to the taxpayer and that dividends will be reinstated. The only question would be when.

Unless the value of your holding is still reasonably high (say > £1000) I would say that its not worth the effort and costs of selling and you might as well keep them for the long term.

Masomnia

I'd certainly hang on. You'll be waiting years probably before they look anything like healthy again but there's certainly no point in selling, especially when you didn't pay for them in the first place.

I wouldn't expect them to go anywhere near as high as they were, but there's no reason why they shouldn't earn you a reasonable income in future. When the government eventually does sell its stake in the bank it should be business as usual (if that's a good thing!) and the dividends will indeed be reinstated.

Reaper

Part of the reason they are worth so little is because the dividends are not being paid, which means it is not a good time to sell unless you need the money.

As long as you believe the government will one day be able to offload it I suggest hanging on to them.

jimjames

Keeping them does sound like the best option. It does highlight the dangers of holding shares in just one company with the inherent risk even to such apparently massive secure business as RBS or BP.

CLAPTON

basically
would you buy them today?
are they a good buy.... if you think they are a good buy then keep them
if you think they are a bad buy and you can use the money more effectively then sell them

what you originally paid for them has nothing to to with it