ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP PLC is within a rising trend. Continued positive development within the trend channel is indicated. The stock has broken up through the resistance at pence 50.00. A further rise to 100p (1) is predicted in the medium term. The stock is assessed as technically positive for the medium long term.

Good luck -

1st Quarter Results

Highlights

Q1 2015 performance

● The loss attributable to ordinary and B shareholders was £446 million, compared with a loss of £5,791 million in Q4 2014 and a profit of £1,195 million in Q1 2014.
● Total income was £4,331 million, up 12% from Q4 2014 but 14% lower than Q1 2014, reflecting the reduction in the scale and risk profile of CIB. Net interest income was £2,756 million, with new business margins broadly stable but with a lower Q1 day count. Non-interest income of £1,575 million benefited from lower IFRS volatility costs and disposal gains in RBS Capital Resolution (RCR).
● Operating expenses totalled £4,097 million, with adjusted operating expenses down 15% from Q1 2014 at £2,788 million, reflecting continuing headcount reductions. Compared with Q4 2014, adjusted expenses were down 11%, or 3% after excluding the impact of the UK bank levy booked in Q4. Operating expenses included £856 million of litigation and conduct charges, relating to foreign exchange and mortgage-backed securities litigation and investigations in the United States together with other customer redress. Restructuring costs amounted to £453 million, down from Q4 2014 but higher than Q1 2014, and related principally to a write-down of the value of US premises.
● Impairment releases of £91 million reflected continuing benign credit conditions in all franchises, though at a lower rate than in Q4 2014.
● Operating profit was £325 million, compared with a profit of £1,283 million in Q1 2014 and a loss of £375 million in Q4 2014. Excluding restructuring, litigation and conduct costs, operating profit was £1,634 million, up 16% from Q1 2014.
● Statutory operating profit before tax from continuing operations was £53 million, compared with a profit of £1,490 million in Q1 2014 and a loss of £683 million in Q4 2014. After a tax charge of £193 million the loss from continuing operations was £140 million. The Q1 tax rate reflects property and conduct costs in the US for which a deferred tax asset has not been recognised and the non deductibility of certain other UK conduct costs and strategic disposal losses.
● Results from discontinued operations included a net loss of £320 million reflecting the fall in the market value of Citizens shares during the quarter, from $24.86 at 31 December 2014 to $24.13 at 31 March 2015.
● Strategic disposals losses comprise a net charge of £122 million in respect of International Private Banking and £13 million mainly in relation to RBS Kazakhstan.
● Tangible net asset value per ordinary and equivalent B share was 384p at 31 March 2015, compared with 387p at 31 December 2014.

Balance sheet and capital

● Funded assets at 31 March 2015 were £714 billion, up 2% from December 2014 but down 4% from the prior year. The increase in Q1 principally reflected the strengthening of the US dollar against sterling, together with client-driven trading activity and settlement balances returning from seasonal lows at the year end.
● Loans and advances to customers, excluding disposal groups, totalled £333 billion, with the continuing wind-down in RCR offsetting growth in certain strategic segments. Risk elements in lending fell by 21%, £5.9 billion to £22.3 billion at 31 March 2015, representing 5.4% of gross customer loans compared with 6.8% at 31 December 2014 and 9.0% at March 2014.

more....

Bought some more of these today at 334.5. It's now my biggest holding by some way.

Looking for about 400 as a target

Numis Add 340.90 400.00 400.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 340.90 395.00 395.00 Reiterates

And some more at 328.5 for my SIPP.

RSI now at 31

Exclusive - Britain targets sale of half its RBS stake in two years: sources

Disposal of Loan Portfolio

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (RBS) announces today the agreement to dispose of a portfolio of loans to an entity funded by Deutsche Bank and funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, LLC.

At completion, RBS will receive cash consideration of approximately £400m at current exchange rates. Completion is expected in September 2015. The disposal proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

This transaction, which represents RWA equivalent of £679m as at 31 December 2014, forms part of the continued reduction of assets in RBS Capital Resolution and is in line with the Bank's plan to strengthen its capital position and reduce higher risk exposures.

The carrying value of the loans as at 31 December 2014 was approximately £376m. The gross assets were approximately £1.137bn and the loans generated a loss of approximately £70m in the year to 31 December 2014. The disposal of the portfolio is expected to generate a profit of approximately £24m after costs associated with the transaction.

- END -

Intention to Sell Part of Citizens Financial Group Inc. Stake

Half Yearly Report: Part 1

Highlights

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) continues to deliver on its plan to build a stronger, simpler and fairer bank for both customers and shareholders.

A strong operating performance from Personal & Business Banking (PBB) and Commercial & Private Banking (CPB) contributed to an attributable profit of £293 million for Q2 2015 (loss of £153 million for H1 2015):

● Q2 operating profit(1) was £304 million, in line with Q1 2015. Litigation and conduct costs were lower at £459 million compared with £856 million in Q1 2015, while restructuring costs rose to £1,050 million from £453 million in Q1 2015 as the pace of restructuring accelerated.

● Adjusted operating profit(2) was £1,813 million, up 11% from Q1 2015 but down 7% from Q2 2014, principally driven by reduced income in Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB) following the planned scaling back of the business. Q2 2015 income benefited from a £205 million credit for IFRS volatility(3), compared with a £123 million charge in Q1 2015. H1 2015 adjusted operating profit was £3,447 million, up 2% from H1 2014.

● Discontinued operations included a fair value gain of £517 million, of which £211 million was attributable to RBS, reflecting the rise in market value of Citizens shares and broadly reversing the loss recorded in Q1 2015.

● Tangible net asset value per ordinary and equivalent B share was 380p at 30 June 2015 compared with 384p at 31 March 2015.

RBS is making good progress against its 2015 targets, moving faster in delivering its plan:

● Positive lending momentum across UK Personal & Business Banking (UK PBB) and Commercial Banking.

● Statistically significant improvement in Net Promoter Scores (NPS) year-on-year in four of the seven businesses where it is measured.

● Adjusted return on equity(4) in the Go-forward Bank is estimated at 14% for H1 2015.

● Capital position strengthened further with Common Equity Tier 1 ratio up 80 basis points in Q2 2015 to 12.3%.

● Exit Bank ahead of plan with continuing progress on sales and run-off.

● On track to achieve £800 million cost reduction target(5).

Intention to dispose of approx 5.2% of RBS


UKFI announces that it intends to sell part of HM Treasury's shareholding in The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (the "Company"). The disposal of these shares (the "Placing Shares") will be by way of a placing to institutional investors (the "Placing").

The price at which the Placing Shares are sold (the "Placing Price") will be determined by way of an accelerated bookbuilding process. The book will open with immediate effect following this announcement.

Disposal of approximately 5.4% of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc

Further to its announcement on 3 August 2015, UKFI announces the successful completion of the disposal of part of HM Treasury's shareholding in The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (the "Company"). The disposal was effected by way of a Placing (the "Placing") of ordinary shares (the "Placing Shares") by way of an accelerated bookbuilding process to institutional investors.

In summary, following settlement of the Placing which will take place on 6 August 2015:

● The shareholding of HM Treasury will be reduced from 3,964,483,519 ordinary shares, representing approximately 61.3% of the ordinary share capital of the Company, to 3,334,483,519 ordinary shares, representing approximately 51.5% of the ordinary share capital.

● Accordingly, the overall size of HM Treasury's economic interest in the capital of the Company (which includes its holding of ordinary shares and B shares in the Company) will be reduced from approximately 78.3% to approximately 72.9%.

● The Placing Price was 330 pence per Placing Share. As a result, the proceeds from the sale of the Placing Shares will be £2,079,000,000.

● Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Goldman Sachs International, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc and UBS Limited acted as Bookrunners in connection with the Placing.

● UKFI and HM Treasury have undertaken to the Bookrunners not to sell further shares in the Company for a period of 90 calendar days following the completion of the Placing without the prior written consent of a majority (by participation) of the Bookrunners.

● N M Rothschild & Sons Limited acted as Capital Markets Adviser. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP acted as legal counsel to UKFI in respect of English and US law.

Just the 680 million traded so far!

How many of those were government stock?

EDIT: 630m?

Well I suppose the Tory's know how many Beans make Five - or not?
So they sold ~10% of the holding that was forced upon English citizens - but at a loss - O, I wonder who thinks ( er, excluding anyone in the City ), that is a good deal - It makes no sense. Furthermore the money received by the Gov. is unlikely to be used wisely - it's just not enough to kick-start something.... better to move the Execs at RBS, to see if anyone there has some decent "Banking" ideas..... One suspects not.

I don't think Labour took over RBS & Lloyds primarily to make a profit, it was to save the whole banking system as we know it and to keep the ATM's providing peeps with their money.
2517

Now if George could just buy back those half billion shares they sold a few weeks ago some 20p cheaper than would be really useful

Macquarie broker note:
" We upgrade the shares to Neutral. There are still considerable risks around RBS, particularly material outstanding litigation and conduct liabilities that are virtually unquantifiable.
 However, having underperformed the European bank sector and the UK market by over 20% year to date (UK banks -12%) the shares are trading at a c30% discount to European banks (PTBV15e 0.8x v EuroBank average 1.2x).
 For a bank which we believe is pursuing the correct strategy of focusing on its core valuable UK Retail and Commercial banking franchise (are you listening Barclays?) this leaves the risks far more balanced. We upgrade to Neutral and recommend closing the short.
 RBS published a poor set of Q3 results. IFRS PBT £2m was better than consensus expectations for a loss of £84m. However, this was driven by lower litigation and conduct charges.
 Core adjusted PBT (ex. US exit and Non-core) £854m was -15% (-£145m) below estimated consensus.
 Key drivers include weaker than expected revenue including -£126m for IFRS volatility (weak Commercial Banking and Centrals), and higher than expected costs (UK Personal & Business Banking and Centrals).
Action and recommendation
 RBS is a challenging bank for investors. Management are good and strategy correct. Long term there seems little reason why it should not trade at a similar PTBV15e to Lloyds (1.35x).
 However, before we reach the promised land we need to cross the litigation desert. RBS is exposed to just about every major sector litigation, plus a few extra. Trying to quantify these is still fraught with uncertainty.
 That said, we believe that we have provided at the conservative end of the spectrum (including $10bn for US RMBS action) and still have a 300p price target. With the risks more balanced we close the short and upgrade the shares to Neutral."

StockMarketWire.com
Royal Bank of Scotland has made provisions for about USD2.7bn covering Payment Protection Insurance and Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities as it moves to clean up its core business and put the past behind it.

It would provision an additional USD2.2bn in relation to various US RMBS litigation claims in Q4 2015 which will reduce attributable profits for Q4 2015 by GBP1.5bn, reduced TNAV per share at 31 December 2015 by 13p, and the CET 1 capital ratio by 0.6%.

It confirmed an additional provision of GBP500m in relation to PPI in the context of the recent FCA consultation paper CP15/39, which will reduce attributable profits for Q4 2015 by GBP500m, reduce TNAV per share at 31 December 2015 by 4p, and the CET 1 capital ratio by 0.2%.

Moreover, there was a Q4 2015 goodwill impairment charge of GBP498m in respect of its Private Banking business. This will reduce attributable profits in Q4 2015 by GBP498m, but as an intangible item will have no impact on TNAV per share or the CET1 ratio.

As at 31 December 2015, RBS expects to report a CET1 capital ratio of approximately 15% and TNAV per share of approximately 350p versus a CET1 capital ratio of 16.2% (pro-forma for the full disposal of Citizens) and TNAV per share of 384p as at 30 September 2015, pending the completion of normal year end processes. These figures are preliminary estimates and unaudited.

Subject to PRA approval, we expect the adverse core capital impact resulting from the proposed pension accounting change, including the �4.2 billion accelerated payment, to be partially offset by a reduction in RBS's core capital requirements.

The timing of any such potential core capital offsets are likely to occur at the earliest 1 January 2017, and will depend upon PRA's assessment of RBS's core capital position at that time.

CEO Ross McEwan said:
"I am determined to put the issues of the past behind us and make sure RBS is a stronger, safer bank. We will now continue to move further and faster in 2016 to clean-up the bank and improve our core businesses.

"We've always been open about the scale of past issues facing RBS and although there is clearly much more to do, this announcement is a further step towards addressing legacy issues and building a great bank for our customers and delivering long term value for our shareholders."

How much has been pumped ınto thıs bottomless pıt after all these years and ıts only

worth 25p

I am ıgnorıng the massagıng of the stock splıt.

a slightly clearer 6 month chart with 25,50 and 200 dma lines

That's a grim looking chart, even when you look at it upside down!