RBS posts $2.3-bn H1 loss

06 Aug 2011

1

Royal Bank of Scotland, majority owned by thge UK government yesterday reported a loss of £1.4 billion, or $2.3 billion, for the first half of the year, as against a profit last year, as European financial firms remained concerned over the Greek government's debt.

The loss at RBS comes against a profit of £9 million for the first six months of 2010, and according to the bank, in the latest period it had set aside £733 million towards covering exposure to Greek sovereign debt.

Costs towards payment of compensation to customers for erroneous sales of some insurance products also reduced income.

According to Stephen Hester, the RBS chief executive, he was pleased with efforts to reduce costs and streamline the bank's businesses, but warned of a more difficult economic environment slowing down his efforts.

''There is no shortcut to achieve our goals,'' Hester said in the statement. ''Economic and regulatory headwinds may be challenging, but the momentum that our people and restructuring actions have sustained thus far in the RBS recovery plan should continue to stand us in good stead.''

RBS became the latest European bank to take a hit for  holdings in Greek sovereign debt after two of France's biggest banks, Société Générale and BNP Paribas, disclosed large charges on their Greek debt exposure this week.

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