RBS posts £446m first quarter loss as scandal and fines weigh on results
RBS set aside another £856 million to cover potential litigation fees
Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
Royal Bank of Scotland made a loss of £446 million in its first quarter after it set aside another £856 million to cover potential litigation fees and other costs relating to past misdeeds.
The taxpayer-owned bank put aside another £334 billion to cover costs that may arise from the global investigation into alleged manipulation of the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency market.
RBS was one of six banks fined £2.8 billion last year over the scandal and is currently conducting an internal review into its foreign exchange division, which ha already seen a number of staff suspended.
The bank also added £100 million for compensating customers mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) and another £257 million for customer redress mainly relating to paid-for accounts to its provisions.
It follows a decision by Barclays to top up the funds it has for dealing with forex allegations and PPI by another £800 million and £150 million, respectively.
Stripping out those costs, RBS made an operating profit of £1.63 billion in the first three months of the year, up 16% on the same period last year.
RBS said the improvement stemmed from “benign credit conditions” and its ongoing cost cutting programme.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments