We’re on hold.
Kick off time was 7.30 for the press conference call following news on Tuesday that Royal Bank of Scotland is raising £12bn at the shockingly discounted price of 200p a share on an 11-for-18 basis.
Here’s Sir Tom McKillop chairman! He’s nervous. Very nervous. A quiver in the voice.
These are difficult times times in the banking world, he says. We will all have seen the company announcement in which the board has taken “decisive action to rebase the capital ratios of our bank.”
He takes us through the new planned capital ratios on a “look thru” basis. This is clearly different from the looking glass basis previously applied.
Sir Tom says the board has agreed a concrete set of actions, with various possible disposals contributing a further £4bn. RBS, meanwhile, has hard a hard look at potential writedowns over the next year, which may total £4.3bn after tax - that’s £5.9bn before tax.
Now Sir Fred Goodwin is on. He’s sounding calm and professional - as though he’s treating this is a regular, diary update.
The bank has turned in a satisfactory performance, he insists. This has been a “story of two parts.” RBS has seen “good momentum.” Indeed, even in global banking and markets, Sir Fred has seen “some very buoyant conditions,” although - yes, some areas have been becalmed.
But look, Sir Fred seem to insist, overall RBS has seen a satisfactory performance. Indeed, key metrics remain encouraging, with bad debts actually coming down in the UK.
The conference call continues…
