Llyods / HBOS shares

creamcake7

Apologies if this is the wrong board, and I wanted to check with someone before I got too excited !!


When I was clearing out some old paperwork I have come across two Lloyds share certificates (1 for 100 shares and another for 3 shares) – both for 25p shares – are these still valid ?


If I remember correctly they must be from when I previously had some HBOS shares.


What is the difference between 25p shares and 10p shares ?

I’ve never sold shares before – what is the best way?

And are they seriously worth approx. £6000 ??

eskbanker

Calm down, I think you have the decimal point in the wrong place, they'll be worth closer to 6000p, i.e. £60!

bowlhead99

creamcake7 wrote: »

Apologies if this is the wrong board, and I wanted to check with someone before I got too excited !!

Don't get excited.

When I was clearing out some old paperwork I have come across two Lloyds share certificates (1 for 100 shares and another for 3 shares) – both for 25p shares – are these still valid ?


If I remember correctly they must be from when I previously had some HBOS shares.


What is the difference between 25p shares and 10p shares ?

I’ve never sold shares before – what is the best way?

And are they seriously worth approx. £6000 ??

No, 103 shares are not worth £6000. That is probably 100x too high.

The nominal value of the share (eg 25p shares vs 10p shares) is not what they are worth, but it helps you determine whether the certificates you hold are for the exact type of shares currently listed on the stock market, or some older version.

From time to time companies may consolidate the shares together (eg two 25p shares becomes one 50p share) or they might split them up (e.g. one 25p share becomes two and a half 10p shares) or they might convert them into some other combination (so a 25p share becomes a 10p share plus a 15p share and the 15p ones have nil value while the 10p ones are listed on the stock exchange).

If you still have the share certificates and are confident that you have never cashed them in or transferred them to anyone then it's quite possible that you just weren't issued with a new certificate at the last conversion into the "current" denomination.

If you go to the Investors section of the Lloyds Banking Group website (not the Lloyds bank website where you'd do your online banking) you can find out the history of any conversions and how many "normal" shares your certificates are equivalent to.

The easiest method is just to contact the company's Registrar and say you have 103, 25p shares, how do you get a current certificate.

creamcake7

I'd already planned and spent the money (in my head )!!!
Thank you bowlhead I'll do as you advise and check on the website.

bowlhead99

You should find that the conversion was as per the last of my examples - the company took each 25p share and converted it into the a 10p share (which gives you 103 shares that can be bought and sold on the stock exchange) and a 'deferred' 15p share which is essentially worthless.

The reason they did this in 2009 was simply because during the financial crisis, their share price fell quite a lot lower than 25p and they were not allowed to issue any new shares for less than the nominal value of the ordinary shares that their existing shareholders had. So, to give them more flexibility when fundraising, they just reorganised it and lowered the nominal value of those existing shares. But you should find from the Registrar that you still ended up with 103 useful 10p shares for your 103 old-fashioned 25p shares.

The good news is that since 2009 the company has paid just over 4p of dividends per share. If you haven't received these (e.g. because they don't have your current address to send a cheque) you would be owed almost £4.50. Sorry it's not quite £6k.

creamcake7

Ha ha !! £4.50 !!.. I've come back to earth with a big bump !!

bowlhead99

That's £4.50 just for the dividends which might continue at a couple of pounds per year. The shares themselves would be worth £60-70 (before costs to sell them), and that number may grow over time.