20th Apr 2005 14:02
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC20 April 2005 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc AGM Statement 20 April 2005 The Meeting will deal with the proposed Resolutions as outlined in the Notice ofMeeting issued to Shareholders dated 7 March 2005, and will provide a summary ofthe business and financial performance of the Group in 2004. The following is an extract from the speech to be made by Sir George Mathewson,Chairman, at the Meeting. "In 2004, we increased our Group operating profit, that is, our profit beforetax, goodwill amortisation and integration costs by 15 per cent to £8,101million. And we increased our profit before tax by 14 per cent, to £6,917million." "We also increased our adjusted earnings per share by 10 per cent. The Board isrecommending a final dividend of 41.2p per ordinary share, an increase of 15 percent over the previous years dividend. This is the twelfth consecutive year inwhich we have increased our dividend per share by 15 per cent." "In 2004, we increased our total income by 18 per cent. Adjusting for the impactof currency movements, our income growth was 20 per cent. Of this 20 per centgrowth in our income, acquisitions accounted for 9 per cent, organic growth 11per cent. As a result of the relative movements in income and expenses, weimproved our cost income ratio from 42.6 per cent in 2003 to 40.8 per cent in2004." "During 2004 we made several acquisitions, the largest of which was the US bank,Charter One. Charter One is an excellent fit with our existing US business,Citizens Financial Group. Charter One's presence in various densely populatedstates has enabled a significant expansion of Citizens' existing and potentialcustomer base. Since acquiring Charter One on 31 August 2004, the initialperformance of the business has been good and integration is fully on track.During the last 18 months we completed two other large acquisitions - ChurchillInsurance and First Active. In each case, as for Charter One, IT migration isfully on track and we are delivering transaction benefits in line with ourplans." "Our people are the key to our success. The addition of 1,000 staff at NatWestwas among the 4,500 new jobs created by organic growth, the majority of themcustomer facing. Our total number of Full Time Equivalent employees rose tonearly 137,000, up by 16,000 from around 121,000 last year." "The training and development of our staff is a high priority to ensure thatthey fully develop their potential and continue to deliver a very high qualityof service to our customers. Over £50 million was invested in development andleadership programmes in 2004." "There has been no change to our policy not to transfer jobs offshore. Thiscontinues to differentiate us from the vast majority of our competitors, and isimportant to maintaining the commitment and loyalty of our employees." "We owe our people more than stable, safe and fair employment. The environmentin which they work should be fully fit for purpose in the 21st century. We haverecently completed new regional centres in Manchester and Birmingham, part ofour work to rationalise and improve our office premises." "At Gogarburn, the office accommodation and the associated training and socialfacilities have been designed with the help of our staff who will work there.Work is on budget and ahead of schedule and staff will transfer, this summer, tothe new building, which will provide a modern, efficient and pleasant workingenvironment for 3,250 people." "Banks sit at the heart of the community. While our products and services mustmeet the needs of people and businesses, there is more that we can do tocontribute. The value of our community investment programme in 2004 was £46million, making it one of the largest in Europe." "In parallel with our responsibilities to the community, we have an obligationto minimise our impact on the environment. In 2004 we improved our position tosecond equal in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the banking sector,and our score was 22 per cent above the global average for the sector. Ourpolicies and practice focus on the key areas of energy consumption, transportand waste management, and we are ahead of our targets in each of these areas,with some significant achievements in savings." "At previous meetings, we have mentioned our strength, diversity andflexibility. These are real qualities, evident across the Royal Bank Group. Theygive us confidence that we can continue to provide customers with improvedservice, with well rewarded and highly motivated staff, while allowing us tomake a major contribution to the communities in which we operate." "For our shareholders, we continue to focus on the fundamentals of growing ourincome and improving our efficiency, while maintaining sustainable creditquality. And we continue to focus on having strategic options, so that we cansustain our growth in income and earnings over the long term." "The Group continues to perform well, although many indicators suggest that weare facing a period of increased consumer caution in the UK. In corporatebanking and financial markets, we continue to see good growth in the UK and inour overseas operations. In the United States our businesses continue to performwell and the integration of Charter One is fully on track." Forward Looking StatementsThis announcement contains forward looking statements, including such statementswithin the meaning of Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933 and Section21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements concern or mayaffect future matters, such as the Group's future economic results, businessplans and strategies, and are based upon the current expectations of thedirectors. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that mightcause actual results and events to differ materially from the expectationsexpressed in the forward looking statements. Factors that could cause orcontribute to differences in current expectations include, but are not limitedto, regulatory developments, competitive conditions, technological developmentsand general economic conditions. The Group assumes no responsibility to updateany of the forward looking statements contained in this announcement. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
RBS.L