Royal Mail float

[gingerjedi]

Yes.

Ok, BT got sold in time when there was massive raise in market of communications.

British Gas - people need warm houses to survive - demand for product is inherent and energy costs have been going mainly up since late 80s.

BA - very good reputation and people in this country love to get to a sunny beach.

What's there for Royal Mail? Crazy union relations (10% shares given to them won't change much), monopoly is gone, core letter delivery business is crumbling, there only thing that's could have gone well for them is parcel delivery (due to online trade) but they are tulip at it and many companies switched to their competitors. Lots of Post Offices got closed to cut costs and that greatly undermined whole service - they could have conrnered the market of online deliveries if they were actually open until later than tulipy 5:30pm.

Good luck with their shares.

Deutsche Post? They're doing pretty well and they operate in the same market, or do Germans not use email?

I'm not saying its a nailed on punt hence the question, but I also don't think its the dead duck you describe. They have the business and they're now making money, of course it could bomb if overvalued but that's the gamble.

[AtW]

Deutsche Post? They're doing pretty well and they operate in the same market, or do Germans not use email?

BMW is doing pretty well there also, but that does not mean you need to buy shares in Rover.

Unions in UK and Germany are very different, same can be said for management's attitude towards working with the unions - one is more like mature approach and the other is more like class struggle.

You need to remember that the reason Govt is selling Royal Mail is not because it's a crown jewel that generates solid profits, but because they want to get it off their hands - don't know at what level they float, but unless it's very low valueation to begin with the only way for shares will be down...

Note - this is NOT an investment advice but a personal opinion...

[SimonMac]

Yes.

Ok, BT got sold in time when there was massive raise in market of communications.

British Gas - people need warm houses to survive - demand for product is inherent and energy costs have been going mainly up since late 80s.

BA - very good reputation and people in this country love to get to a sunny beach.

What's there for Royal Mail? Crazy union relations (10% shares given to them won't change much), monopoly is gone, core letter delivery business is crumbling, there only thing that's could have gone well for them is parcel delivery (due to online trade) but they are tulip at it and many companies switched to their competitors. Lots of Post Offices got closed to cut costs and that greatly undermined whole service - they could have conrnered the market of online deliveries if they were actually open until later than tulipy 5:30pm.

Good luck with their shares.

Still manage to make £400m profit last year

(PS And most Post Offices are not part of Royal Mail, only the crown ones)

[AtW]

Still manage to make £400m profit last year

Ok, I'll buy 10% of shares for a fiver.

[Troll]

Any privatisations that have actually been good for the British public or was that not the point?

[vetran]

Any privatisations that have actually been good for the British public or was that not the point?

BT,British Gas,British Airways.

BT - it took minimum 3 months to get a new phone line or one fixed. Old technology PABXs were all that were on offer. I worked for a BT supplier, we were trying to sell them the technology common in the US they weren't interested before privatisation.The exchanges were falling apart. After privatisation our telecoms network became world leading again.

British Gas the show rooms and service were dreadful and we were subsidising them. Now you rarely hear any complaint apart from they make too much profit.

BA - well !

[mudskipper]

[SueEllen]

BT,British Gas,British Airways.

BT - it took minimum 3 months to get a new phone line or one fixed. Old technology PABXs were all that were on offer. I worked for a BT supplier, we were trying to sell them the technology common in the US they weren't interested before privatisation.The exchanges were falling apart. After privatisation our telecoms network became world leading again.

British Gas the show rooms and service were dreadful and we were subsidising them. Now you rarely hear any complaint apart from they make too much profit.

BA - well !

So how will RM become more efficient when privatised?

All it will do is decrease the power of their unions.

Virtually every poster on these forums has had trouble with alternative parcel delivery services, and looking at the example in the Netherlands what is going to happen if you want to send a letter you use another method of communication.

[AtW]

All it will do is decrease the power of their unions.

Well, if that happens, then it would indeed increase competitiveness!!!

[SueEllen]

Well, if that happens, then it would indeed increase competitiveness!!!

Not necessarily.

I know people who have worked at RM as temps on the shop floor and as management.

RM has very serious management issues. The union is there to protect the workers from stupid management decisions some of which have been very stupid. It doesn't help that the managers can't stand each other. I think like the car industry they need to bring in some Japanese managers.