28/02/2013

RBS Report Over £5bn Pre-Tax Loss

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported its fifth annual loss since receiving a government bailout in 2008.

The bank blamed a "series of charges" when it reported a pre-tax loss of £5.17bn.

It lost £766m, the previous year.

Describing 2012 as a "chastening" year, a statement from the bank said that had sought to "put right past mistakes".

The bank has had to set money aside to cover claims over PPI mis-selling, the mis-selling of interest rate swaps and its fine for attempting to fix Libor.

Much of the pre-tax loss came from a £4.6bn accounting charge for changes in the value of its own credit, which is a measure of how much it would cost to buy back its own liabilities.

The bank has taken a £5bn charge for loan impairments, which are write-offs to cover loans that are unlikely to be repaid.

Of that figure, £1.4bn came from its Ulster Bank division, pushing it into a loss of more than £1bn.

RBS is 81% owned by the government.

(H/GK)


Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

17 April 2014
Co-Op Group Announce £2.5bn Loss
Marking the worst results in its 150-year history, the Co-op Group has filed losses of £2.5bn for 2013. The Group said that £2.1bn of losses came from the Co-operative Bank, including a trading loss of £1.44bn for the year to December 2013. The losses have been described as "disastrous" by chief executive Richard Pennycook.
05 May 2011
Bank Of England Maintains Bank Rate At 0.5%
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion. The previous change in Bank Rate was a reduction of 0.5 percentage points to 0.
03 August 2010
Northern Rock Steadfast In Recovery
The boss of a once beleaguered UK bank is "encouraged" by news that nationalised Northern Rock's - a so-called 'bad bank' - has returned to profit following heavy losses last year in the wake of a bail-out by the taxpayer in 2008. Chief Executive Gary Hoffman said the Northern Rock 'AM' results were 'encouraging'.
07 November 2013
Bank Of England Maintains Bank Rate At 0.5%
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375bn.
02 August 2013
New RBS Chief To Forgo Bonus Until 2015
The new boss of the Royal Bank of Scotland will not take any bonus for his role until 2015. Shares in the bank fell 5% despite the announcement of a pre-tax profit of £1.4bn, up from a £1.7bn loss last year. It is understood that investors had expected a greater improvement.