Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)

RBS remains a taxpayer-owned bank. Bailed out at the height of the financial crisis, it has yet to record an annual profit as ongoing legacy issues continue to blight the former world’s largest bank. Now a more streamlined, UK-focused financial institution, the bank has reported three consecutive quarters of profits in 2017.

The bank’s shares climbed to a 2-year high of 304p in late January before retreating over 10% in the following ten sessions to a low of 271p. While a period of consolidation has since taken place, full-year results have tended to be a hurdle in recent years.

Will the bank’s 2017’s results mark a decade of annual losses, prompting further weakness for RBS shares? Or will full-year results round off a positive year of reporting, helping shares return to highs traded earlier this year?

Will RBS break out to June 2015 highs of 370p (+33%)  or retreat to 2017 lows of 210p (-24%)?

• Shares have broken down from 18-month rising lows support, but further support levels incoming
• RSI has recovered from oversold, however remains stubbornly below 50
• Stochastics remain oversold, while Momentum remains negative however is off worst levels
• Brokers are positive on RBS, with 70% forecasting the price will rise over the next 12 months

Broker Consensus: 31% Buy, 54% Hold, 15% Sell

Bullish: Exane BNP Paribas, Outperform, Target 345p, +24% (8 Feb 18)

Average Target: 293p, +5.5% (15 Feb 18)

Bearish: Mediobanca, Underperform, Target 244p, -12% (22 Jan 18)

Pricing data sourced from Bloomberg on 15 February. Please contact us for a full, up to date rundown.