any comments, thoughts, on this stock.

then again maybe not!!!!...low bids abound?

The Treasury is in control of this process and it isn't the least interested in the shareholders. If the shareholders get 25p/share they'll be lucky.

if maestro has actually bought NRK, he'll soon be able to wholesale all the baths he has taken!

This is all expected even before doing the calculations, maestro...who would offer a good price for a crap company? This is basic economics. Guess Branson is offering pittance for it...take it or leave it


Rock offers fall short - MoneyAM
Offers for Northern Rock received so far fall well short the current market capitalisation.

Northern Rock said the approaches from potential suitors it has received so far value the group 'materially below' its 559m market capitalisation at the end of last week.

The stricken mortgage lender said talks with the suitors are continuing, adding that it expects to receive further approaches 'in the next few days.' The bank said it is also discussing options for refinancing its debts.

Separately, the UK Treasury today said it was 'willing to discuss' proposals to take over Northern Rock which envisage extending the lender's emergency support from the Bank of England beyond its scheduled expiry in February next year.

'Interested parties should not assume at this stage that the current Bank of England loan facilities will be available beyond either any sale or the expiry of the facilities in February,' the Treasury said in a statement. 'However, the authorities are willing to discuss any proposals made.'

Analysts and commentators have said a guarantee of continued government support for Northern Rock will likely prove essential to any successful private sector takeover of the group.

Northern Rock, once the UK's eighth-biggest bank, revealed in September that this summer's global credit squeeze had forced it to seek emergency support from the BoE.

Northern Rock's borrowing from the central bank has reached an estimated 25.3bn since then as it explores takeover proposals and rescue packages from at least four potential buyers.

Meanwhile, some of the major shareholders of Northern Rock believe it should stop its sale process.

They are planning to propose to chairman Bryan Sanderson that the embattled bank should halt its sale process and install a management team headed by Luqman Arnold, former CEO of Abbey National, the Financial Times newspaper reported.

SRM Global, a hedge fund run by former UBS trader Jon Wood, and other institutional shareholders will put forward their proposals to Sanderson this week, it said.

SRM and RAB Capital, which have a combined 13% stake in the bank, have opposed the sale, according to the the Sunday Times newspaper.

'We have repeatedly made it clear to the board that this sale process should be stopped. The process has become a farce which is damaging the franchise of Northern Rock and the UK banking system,' the newspaper quoted Jon Wood, head of SRM, as saying.

The Daily Telegraph reported Northern Rock is expected to reveal that all the bids submitted on Friday and over the weekend value the stricken bank at less than its current stock market value.

Up to eight bidders submitted proposals on Friday. Northern Rock's board met yesterday afternoon to discuss the proposals put forward to advisers Blackstone, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, it said.

Maestro's three magnificent stocks: Equator, NXT and Northern Rock(et).

I think maestro has run for cover.

Probably left earth in one of his rockets and is currently headed for Mars.

Hey look cynic, sub 100p now.

i know, i know .... thank goodness for some little rays of sunshine

Hope this is not a lingering death as it continues to drag down my RBS. R.I.P. NRK.

NRK does not influence other financial stocks per se ..... they are all suffering because the sector is out of favour (surprise surprise) and the perception is that a number of them have all sorts of skeletons in the cupboard that have yet to be revealed.

meanwhile, i am delighted that NRK keeps tumbling

Northern Rock Bradford & Bingley raises 4.2 bln stg through mortgage book disposals UPDATE




(Recasts, adds company comment, analyst reaction, background)
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley PLC said
it raised 4.2 bln stg through the sale of its housing association and commercial
property mortgage books, freeing it to concentrate on its key buy-to-let lending
business.
B&B said it sold the housing association portfolio to Franco-Belgian bank
Dexia for 2.2 bln stg, representing the book value of the outstanding loans,
while the commercial property book went to GE Real Estate for 2 bln stg, a
"small discount" to book value.
A B&B spokesperson stressed that disposals had been planned since April, and
were not designed to plug a gap in B&B's funding in the wake of the global
credit crunch.
"This is not a liquidity event," the spokesperson said. B&B, which like
stricken rival Northern Rock relied heavily on borrowing in the wholesale
markets to fund its lending, is seen as vulnerable to the credit squeeze, as is
fellow mortgage lender Alliance & Leicester.
The B&B spokesperson added that the bank has raised 2.5 bln stg in funding
from the markets since September. Worries over rising defaults against US
sub-prime mortgages prompted banks to largely stop lending to each other in
August.
B&B said the two mortgage books are being sold at a combined loss of 15-40
mln stg. They contributed a total of 47 mln stg to group profit last year.
In a statement, B&B chief executive Steven Crawshaw said the disposals
enable the bank "to improve returns by redirecting our capital and funding
resources to take advantage of the significant opportunities that exist in the
UK mortgage market today."
By 9.50 am, B&B shares were up 3.5 pct at 266 pence, while the FTSE 100
share index was 0.2 pct higher at 6,134 points.
Collins Stewart banks analyst Alex Potter said getting rid of the housing
association mortgage book would "enhance B&B's liquidity and reduce its
wholesale funding requirement."
"We continue to believe that B&B's funding position is the strongest of the
three small mortgage banks," Potter wrote in a note to clients.
In a statement, Dexia head of project finance Bruno Deltre said acquiring
the housing association mortgages -- taken out through not-for-profit
organisations that provide low-cost social housing -- "confirms, in many
respects, that the difficult financial markets environment is a source of
development and profitability for Dexia."

Well done on your short cynic. Should have known that you would not have detected the hint of sarcasm in my comment , after all it is the lowest form of wit ! Regards.

but the highest form of entertainment! ...... have assorted guaranteed stops, the first one cutting in 90p and the last at 115 ..... has to be 5p between each and only in lots of 3000 .... in fact, as i write the first has been stopped and am close to the next ...... may shut all and take the fat profit

closed balance at 91.2 .... could have made a further 2/3k i suppose, but am more than happy as had original target of 100

if i was frighfully brave to downright foolish, i would suggest going long here, as i have a strong suspicion that a lot of short positions are now being closed

Beware NRK may seek suspension soon like Carter and Carter.

thought about that too, but would not have affected my position as CFDs not time-sensitive ...... however, that is another reason why we may see some heavy buying this afternoon - i.e. shorters closing their positions to avoid probs

If NRK suspends itself, it would cause another queue in its branches - no doubt about that.

Do they have that many depositors left?