RBS Rises to One-Year High After Bank Scraps Plans to Sell Unit
- Analysts say U.K. lender could have reached a ‘turning point’
- Keeping Williams & Glyn may help clear path for RBS dividends
RBS Rises After Scrapping Plans to Sell Williams & Glyn
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc rose to a 12-month high in London trading after scrapping plans to sell its Williams & Glyn banking unit, removing one of the lender’s biggest obstacles to paying dividends and cutting the U.K. government’s stake.
Britain’s largest taxpayer-owned bank may have reached a “turning point” after running up expenses of about 1.8 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) trying to dispose of the 314-branch lender in order to meet European Union antitrust rules, analysts at Deutsche Bank AG led by David Lock wrote in a note to clients on Monday. The shares gained as much as 6.5 percent and were up 15.4 pence to 257.8 pence as of 11:00 a.m., the biggest advance among major U.K. banks.