RBS returns to black in H1 with £1.4bn profit

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) reported a return to profit in the first half of the year, as the majority taxpayer owned bank moves towards privatisation.

Its first-half results showed pre-tax profit of £1.374bn, a reversal of the £1.682bn loss it made in the first half of 2012. Group operating profit increased 5% to £1.678bn over the reporting period, and net attributable profit was £535m, compared to a loss of more than £2bn in H1 2012. The bank paid out £3895m in regulatory and legal costs, and a further £185m for PPI claims. RBS has now set aside a total of £2.4bn over the mis-selling of PPI. RBS said it expects to achieve a Basel III Core Tier 1 ratio of over 9% by the end of 2013, which will enable it to boost lending. The...