RBS posts £2bn loss for 2011

Royal Bank of Scotland has posted a worse than expected loss of £2bn for 2011, its fourth consecutive year of losses since its government bailout in 2008.

The total loss attributable to ordinary and B shareholders of £1.997bn is an increase on the £1.1bn figure for 2010, and more severe than the £1.2bn some analysts had forecast. Provisions for mis-selling of PPI and losses from Greek debt contributed to the loss, although the core business was profitable at the operating level, delivering £6.1bn over the year to 31 December 2011. The loss before tax for the full year was £766m, after the company set aside £850m for PPI costs and took a £1,099m writedown on its sovereign debt holdings. In 2010, the bank made a pre-tax loss of £399m. ...