RBS 2004 Annual Report Download - page 222

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Additional information
Additional information continued
Description of property and equipment
The Group operates from a number of locations worldwide,
principally in the UK. At 31 December 2004, the Royal Bank
and NatWest had 642 and 1,631 retail branches, respectively,
in the UK. Citizens had 1,613 retail banking offices (including
in-store branches) covering Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois,
Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and
Vermont. A substantial majority of the UK branches are owned
by the Royal Bank, NatWest and their subsidiaries or are held
under leases with unexpired terms of over 50 years. The
Group’s principal properties include its headquarters at St
Andrew Square, Edinburgh, its principal offices in London at
135 and 280 Bishopsgate and the Drummond House
administration centre located at South Gyle, Edinburgh. A new
corporate headquarters is being developed at Gogarburn,
Edinburgh, which is due to open in 2005.
Freehold and long leasehold properties are revalued on a
rolling basis, each property being valued at least once every
five years. Interim valuations outwith the five year cycle are
carried out on properties where there is an indication that its
value has changed significantly, given market conditions. Any
increase or deficit on revaluation is reflected in the carrying
value of premises at that time. Any impairment in the value of
premises where there is a clear consumption of economic
benefits is charged in full to the profit and loss account. Other
impairments of premises are charged to the profit and loss
account after eliminating any previous revaluation surplus on
the premises. Any profit from the sale of revalued premises is
calculated by deducting the revalued amount from the net
proceeds. The revaluation of premises at 31 December 2004
resulted in a £56 million increase in property revaluation reserves.
Total capital expenditure on premises, computers and other
equipment for the year ended 31 December 2004 was £1,513
million (2003 – £2,613 million; 2002 – £872 million).
Major shareholders
Details of major shareholders in the company’s ordinary and
preference shares are given on page 117.
With the exception of Santander Central Hispano S.A. which
sold (i) 86.7 million ordinary shares shares representing 2.9%
of the company’s ordinary share capital on 25 November 2002,
(ii) 79 million ordinary shares representing 2.5% of the
company’s ordinary share capital on 9 September 2004 and
(iii) 82 million shares representing 2.5% of the company’s
ordinary share capital on 27 January 2005 (and the remainder
of SCH’s shareholding in the company), there have been no
significant changes in the percentage ownership of major
shareholders of the company’s ordinary and preference shares
during the three years ended 23 February 2005. All shareholders
within a class of the company’s shares have the same voting
rights. The company is not directly or indirectly owned or
controlled by another corporation or any foreign government.
At 23 February 2005, the directors of the company had options
to purchase a total of 1,800,211 ordinary shares of the company.
As at 31 December 2004, almost all of the company’s US$
denominated preference shares were held by shareholders
registered in the US. All other shares were predominantly held
by shareholders registered outside the US.
Material contracts
The company and its subsidiaries are party to various
contracts in the ordinary course of business. For the year
ended 31 December 2004, there have been no material
contracts entered into outside the ordinary course of business.