Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced its first half-year profit for three years, declaring it as “proof of the investment case for this bank”.
The lender, which remains more than 70 per cent owned by the taxpayer following its 2008 bailout, reported pre-tax profits of £939m for the six months to 30 June, Sky reports.
That compares to a loss of more than £2bn in the same period last year.
The bank said it had built on the £259m profit achieved in the first quarter and was clearly now moving away from the legacy issues which have held it back.
Litigation and conduct costs hit £396m in the half-year, the bank said, including a further £151m charge in respect of its £3.6bn mortgage-backed securities mis-selling settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency in the US.
There was also a £25m hit booked relating to the recent settlement of the 2008 rights issue shareholder litigation – a deal which averted the prospect of then-chief executive Fred Goodwin having to give evidence.
It said restructuring costs for the half-year came in at £790m.
Chief executive Ross McEwan said: “We’re doing what we said we would at our full-year results in February – growing income, reducing cost and improving returns for shareholders, while also starting to deliver a better service for customers.
“We see the first six months of this year as proof of the investment case for this bank: our path to sustainable profitability is becoming clearer and closer and we have resolved some of the most significant issues this bank faced.”
