12th Oct 2018 11:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - The Royal Bank of Scotland said Friday it has made a dividend payment of 2.0 pence per share, its first dividend payment since the financial crash and its subsequent bailout by the UK government.
The FTSE 100-listed bank said 190,000 shareholders, including UK Government Investments, will receive a total of about GBP240 million.
Shares in RBS were up 2.0% Friday at 249.00 pence each.
"I'm pleased to be able to pay a dividend to our shareholders; a small return after their many years of patience and a testament to the hard work of everyone at this bank. This is another important milestone in our turnaround, almost ten years to the day that RBS was rescued by the British taxpayer," said Chief Executive Officer Ross McEwan.
RBS declared the dividend in its interim reports in August, in which the bank posted pretax profit of GBP1.83 billion on total income of GBP6.70 billion.
The bank's payout had been contingent on resolving charges against it by the US Department of Justice, which it subsequently did with a USD4.9 billion settlement.
McEwan added: "We have created a smaller, safer bank that is generating more sustainable profits. Our capital position is above our target, and we are also looking to return any excess capital as soon as possible to shareholders."
The Times newspaper reported in September that RBS could use up to GBP4 billion of extra capital to pay out a special dividends to shareholders.
RBS Chairman Howard Davies told the newspaper that, despite wanting to use the spare cash to buy the bank's shares from the government, if shareholders wanted the special dividend it was a possible option.
The special dividend could be up to 33 pence per share to investors, the newspaper reported.
RBS will release its third-quarter results October 26.
Related Shares:
RBS.L