Tell us: are you planning to sell your Royal Mail shares?

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 05 Oct 2018, 13:07

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ail-shares" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We would like to hear from people working for the Royal Mail as share prices sink ahead of fee-free sales

All Royal Mail employees were granted shares in the company as part of a flotation five years ago – and as of 15 October, employees can sell their stakes without paying fees for the first time.

Royal Mail’s shares collapsed 28% following a profits warning last week, however, meaning some owners can expect £3,300 each compared to the £4,500 they would have expected or planned for last week.

Are you a Royal Mail shareholder who had been looking forward to this windfall and now disappointed? Had you planned to use the money for a holiday, DIY or to pay off debts? We would like to hear your story.

Share your experiences
If you have an experience you would like to share with our journalists get in touch via the encrypted form below – anonymously if you prefer. Only the Guardian has access to your contributions and one of our reporters may contact you to discuss further. https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ail-shares" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Woody Guthrie · Post by **Woody Guthrie** » 05 Oct 2018, 15:52

The obvious question which needs to be addressed is when senior Royal Mail management became aware of the danger of missing its profit target.

Was it before ordinary hard working staff were locked into a forced sale or after?. It is hard to believe that the failure to achieve cost savings and a decrease in letter volume is something that arrives on your desk without any previous heads up from your management team.

Is it even legal, to force your staff to sell their stake at a much lower price than they expected due to a suspiciously timed announcement by the CEO.

It's certainly morally repugnant that hedge funds will be dipping the pockets of postal workers 2 months before Christmas.

Unfortunately our union's only reply seems to be a very childish and opportunist "we didn't want it privatised anyway", the only thing missing was na, na, na-na-na...we told you so....

Not very helpful for those hoping for a little extra this Christmas and just to make my position clear, I'm not one of those unlucky enough to be caught in this scam...I'm not selling but I feel for those who now have no choice but to sell for what could be as little as £3 a share by the time they are offloaded by the broker.

NWpostie · Post by **NWpostie** » 05 Oct 2018, 15:55

I'm keeping mine, I've also brought extra shares from the IPO, values can go up and down, so you have to think in the long term, not get rich quick. The dividends makes it worth hanging on to.

Woody Guthrie · Post by **Woody Guthrie** » 05 Oct 2018, 16:45

There are always those who oblivious to the position of others tend to focus on their own (self) righteous decisions. This isn't a question of whether it was right or wrong to hold the shares, that's just a gamble with only hindsight left to judge. There are deeper questions to be answered if there are any real journalists left to ask them.

rubberbond · Post by **rubberbond** » 05 Oct 2018, 17:14

I'm not selling my shares and as far as I am aware nor am I, or anyone else obliged to. Don't get me wrong this not from some altruistic love of this company or its senior management , who have probably done very well out of this privatisation, I am not selling because I am not going to let some hedge fund manager make millions off my efforts, if the shares crash and burn then so be it , I got them for nowt, therefore if they're worth nowt ,i haven't lost owt, as they say.
In reality there are some things that are natural monopolies and postal services are one of those,so it's the public who have lost out as it belonged to them , before David Cameron and George Osborne et al sold it to their mates at a knockdown price.

Post by **stephen500** » 05 Oct 2018, 17:32

Woody Guthrie wrote:The obvious question which needs to be addressed is when senior Royal Mail management became aware of the danger of missing its profit target.

Was it before ordinary hard working staff were locked into a forced sale or after?. It is hard to believe that the failure to achieve cost savings and a decrease in letter volume is something that arrives on your desk without any previous heads up from your management team.

Is it even legal, to force your staff to sell their stake at a much lower price than they expected due to a suspiciously timed announcement by the CEO.

It's certainly morally repugnant that hedge funds will be dipping the pockets of postal workers 2 months before Christmas.

Unfortunately our union's only reply seems to be a very childish and opportunist "we didn't want it privatised anyway", the only thing missing was na, na, na-na-na...we told you so....

Not very helpful for those hoping for a little extra this Christmas and just to make my position clear, I'm not one of those unlucky enough to be caught in this scam...I'm not selling but I feel for those who now have no choice but to sell for what could be as little as £3 a share by the time they are offloaded by the broker.

Just got my get out of jail card...

Mazz thematic · Post by **Mazz thematic** » 05 Oct 2018, 19:02

Not selling mine never was as soon as I read they will be sold at a discount,sell at a discount was a way the fat cats and roymail bosses could get hold of our shares cheaply and make a profit off us by doing nothing.but they slipped up and issued a profit warning so now they have backtracked on the no escape clause as press ect started to shout fix.and for all those who think they are doing it out of the kindness of their heart think again they most probably hoped the warning would go unnoticed and they would have made a killing.
Just my views then maybe I am a pessimistic old git.

dancingqueen · Post by **dancingqueen** » 05 Oct 2018, 20:31

As soon as we get to 15th Oct I am out. RM as a plc is in terminal decline operationally.

I fully expect further profit warnings and a divi cut.

I expect sub 100p within 12 months.

Longer term the further danger is re-nationalisation by the marxist Corbyn at a very low price if not 0p.

postmanzach · Post by **postmanzach** » 05 Oct 2018, 20:53

dancingqueen wrote:As soon as we get to 15th Oct I am out. RM as a plc is in terminal decline operationally.

I fully expect further profit warnings and a divi cut.

I expect sub 100p within 12 months.

Longer term the further danger is re-nationalisation by the marxist Corbyn at a very low price if not 0p.

I Think you Might be right. Because the efficiency plans’ being so way off. As right now I think managers are ‘cooking the books’ to help hit their bonus’s, helping out in the morning, not paying part timers properly, lots of little things. I really can’t see this 35 hour week working, more work with less time to do it in, ain’t gonna happen. Just cost them more as people will be booking more overtime.