Member Info for OliGarch

Scampthedog, there is absolutely no way that Rico is going down the road of mass redundancies. Even on minimum capped terms of £15,750 (remember that 50% of staff have 20+ years) the business would need to shell out in excess of £1.5bn potentially going up to £2bn.
This would definitely put paid to the 5 year plan.

Fruitster, having listened to the podcast I am certain that Stuart Simpson is referring to the six month notice period on serving time on the Agenda for Growth contract which contained a legally binding agreement.

Fruitster, I was just passing on information that I have received (don't shoot the messenger) so that others may have the same information in order to make informed decisions on this share.
By the way, where did " 6mths notice to terminate all contracts" come from? My contract states that "If the Post Office wishes to terminate your employment your period of notice will be 12 weeks".

But as Teslo would say "Wren Kitchens are a bit of a niche market built around the end user experience".

Message from CWU Midlands Branch to its members.

On the 6th February 2020 Royal Mail Group issued a 9-month trading update. The effect of this update was to drive the Royal Mail share price down to a record low of £1.70 per share.

Royal Mail infers that the blame for the reduction in the share price rests with the CWU. The facts below tell a different story.

At the point Royal Mail was privatised shares were sold at £3.30 per share.

In April 2018 the Royal Mail Board announced that Rico Back would replace Moya Greene as Chief Executive Officer. Rico Back took up this role in June 2018.

Between April 2018 and June 2018, the Royal Mail share price hit a high of £6.31 per share.

So, when Rico Back took over as CEO, Royal Mail was considered, by institutional investors, to be a well run company, which was reflected in the buoyant share price.

In early October 2018, the Royal Mail Board issued a profit warning. This announcement had a devasting impact on the share price. Overnight the share price plummeted to £3.45. Almost half of the share price wiped out overnight.
Incidentally, this announcement was made a week or so before employees could sell their free shares. This announcement denied employees an opportunity to maximise the return on their free shares. Did the company have to make this announcement a week or so before employees could sell their free shares?

In March 2019, RMG decided to repeat their profit warning. This announcement had the effect of driving down the share price even further. The share price was reduced by a further 25% to £2.54.

The share price continued to drop and for around 6 months was priced around £2.20 -£2.30 per share.

In November 2019 Royal Mail Group issued their half yearly results. This announcement had the effect of dropping the share price even lower to around £1.90 a share. A further reduction of 14% in value.

What is very important to note is that the latest results are based on Rico and the Board’s new business plan, a plan they failed to discuss with the CWU. The drop in value of the share price is the market response to this business plan. Hardly a vote of confidence.
The reduction in the share price has continued. On the 6th February 2020, Royal Mail announced their 9 monthly results. This had the effect of reducing the Royal Mail share price to a record low of £1.70.

In less that 2 years under the leadership of Rico and the Board the Royal Mail share price has been reduced from £6.31 to £1.70!

No other company on the FTSE 250 has suffered this catastrophic loss of value.

So, when RMG try to pin the blame for the destruction of the share price on the CWU and its members, look at the history of the share price below and make your own mind up who is really to blame.

DerekR, there seems to be a few misconceptions on this forum.
1, RM will be the subject of a buy out by one of our competitors if the SP drops too far.
2, if RM employees take IA, the SP will plummet to zero and there will be massive redundancies.
3, Amazon want to take control of everything.
(Actually, number 3 might be true but we have competition laws and regulation in place in the UK)

PP, was that knob or nob? There is a difference.
A nob is a person of wealth or high social position.
A knob on the other hand has many different meanings.

So, following today's debate do I take it as a mandate to lobby the RM BoD and get future dividends stopped?.........error anybody?......You at the back sir?........lol

Does anyone know how many of the FTSE 100/250 companies pay a regular dividend and if theirs is as generous as RM?

DerekR, I did mention earlier that RM have paid out £1.35bn in dividend payments since July 2014 which equates to three quarters of the £1.8bn that Rico has just acquired for the transformation plan. By the time the 5 year plan has been completed, I would anticipate that RM would have paid out in excess of £2bn in dividend payments.

Teslo, a fair point well made regarding IA. It was almost as if the investors were daring the workforce to take IA.

PP, I couldn't agree more. Half of my work colleagues sold their shares at the first opportunity regardless of the SP as it was "free money" anyway and the other half don't even mention the SP anymore as they aren't interested.

Fruitster, as you will have noticed, the SP doesn't necessarily reflect the value of the business. This BB has already discussed the fact that this share is often manipulated by outside forces and that the threat of IA isn't a huge factor. I think that pay rises based on profit is the way to go here.

Ispy, I would agree with you regarding the 3 year pay deal. How does the RM BoD know how the business will perform over the next 3 years?
I have always thought that any bonus scheme or pay deal should be as a result of the previous year's profits. A good year equals a good pay deal and bonus and that any % increase should be across the board regardless of pay scale.

PP, I'm with DerekR on this. I think that it is likely to float between £1.70 and £2 until the end of March, however if it gets above £2.22 I may have to cash £10k out. Today's poor weather has meant "wet playtime" so I have been indoors browsing through the motorcycle websites (or porn as the wife calls it) and selected some that look like fun for the summer.

Teslo, DerekR, I wonder if Amazon may be looking at doing what Sainsbury's did with Argos and going for one of the supermarkets that has stores in every city? Perhaps Asda or Aldi or Lidl?

200iq, I have been a member of the CWU since 1979. The union has done a great job over the years of protecting pay and conditions for RM employees and it has also provided some great training facilities for its reps which help them to interact with line managers in a more professional and productive manner.
Part of the problem that the CWU faces is the rapidly changing face of employment and the legal loopholes that exist (that Teslo has pointed out) which allow our competitors to effectively offer lower terms for their workers.

This video has just been released through WhatsApp by the CWU.
https://www.facebook.com/981299138616232/posts/2797033037042824/?vh=e&d=n

HH1AN2, I bet that you are glad we no longer have a Sunday delivery. The weather this morning is atrocious. A Sou Wester would be appropriate attire for deliveries today!

Normal, some people are good at performing certain jobs but it doesn't necessarily follow that they are wholeheartedly in agreement. For instance, a barrister may well believe that his client is guilty of an offence but it is his job to defend their innocence regardless.
There are also posters on this BB who have very pragmatic ideals despite the fact that some of their ideas won't work in practice.
All viewpoints are worth listening to even if you don't necessarily agree and this usually leads to some excellent debates.