2nd May 2014 06:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC Friday said first-quarter pretax profit doubled, helped by lower operating expenses and a significant reduction in impairment losses.
In a statement, RBS said first-quarter pretax profit increased to GBP1.64 billion from GBP826.0 million in the corresponding quarter a year earlier, even as total income decreased to GBP5.05 billion from GBP5.16 billion.
Net interest income rose marginally to GBP2.70 billion from GBP2.67 billion, but non-interest income fell to GBP2.36 billion from GBP2.49 billion. Operating expenses were reduced to GBP3.19 billion from GBP3.38 billion, with RBS saying it remains on track to meet its target of cutting costs by GBP1.00 billion in 2015.
Impairment losses fell to GBP362.0 million from GBP1.03 billion.
Critically, the 81%-state-owned bank made no further provision for the payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal or for interest-rate hedging products compensation.
However, RBS warned that ongoing conduct and regulatory investigations and litigation continue to create "challenges and uncertainties" for it and other banks, saying that the timing and amounts of any further settlements or redress remain uncertain.
"Just over two months ago, I set out our plan for making RBS the most trusted bank in the UK. Today's results show that in steady state, RBS will be a bank that does a great job for customers while delivering good returns for our shareholders," Ross McEwan, chief executive, said in a statement.
"But we still have a lot of work to do and plenty of issues from the past to reckon with. Everyone at RBS is focused squarely on doing everything we can to earn the trust of our customers and in the process change the banking sector for the benefit of the UK," McEwan added.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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