25th Jul 2014 07:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Royal Bank Of Scotland Group PLC Friday said it expects to report a near doubling in first-half pretax profit, driven by better credit conditions and the performance of the part of the bank tasked with running down non-core assets.
RBS published its results a week ahead of schedule, though they are still being finalised, because of better-than-anticipated operating performance.
In a statement, state-backed RBS said it expects to report GBP2.65 billion in pretax profit in the first six months of 2014, compared with GBP1.37 billion in the corresponding period last year. Total income, made up of net interest income and non-interest income, fell by 5.9% to GBP9.98 billion, but operating expenses fell to GBP7.11 billion from GBP7.75 billion. The bank also reported a significant improvement in impairment losses, which fell to GBP269.0 million from GBP2.15 billion.
However, in the second-quarter alone pretax profit fell to GBP1.01 billion from GBP1.64 billion.
"The results we are posting today show the steady progress we are making as we take the steps to be a much simpler, smaller and fairer bank. These results show that underneath all the noise and huge restructuring of recent years, RBS is a fundamentally stronger bank that can deliver good results for customers and shareholders."
However, McEwan sounded a note of caution due to the legacy problems casting a shadow over the bank.
"We are actively managing down a slate of significant legacy issues. This includes significant conduct and litigation issues that will likely hit our profits going forward. I am pleased we have had two good quarters, but no one should get ahead of themselves here - there are bumps in the road ahead of us," McEwan said in a statement.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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