RBS doubles operating profit to £1.5bn in Q1

Royal Bank of Scotland today said its first-quarter operating profits have doubled and the group remains on track to deliver £1 billion of cost savings for the full year.
RBS have doubled operating profits in new results out today. Picture: GettyRBS have doubled operating profits in new results out today. Picture: Getty
RBS have doubled operating profits in new results out today. Picture: Getty

The state-backed lender also said out-going finance director Nathan Bostock will step down from the role on 19 May to hand over to his successor, Ewen Stevenson. Bostock will become deputy chief executive of Santander UK on 19 August.

For the first three months of the year, RBS reported an operating profit of £1.5 billion, up from £747 million a year earlier.

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Chief executive Ross McEwan said: “Today’s results show that in steady state, RBS will be a bank that does a great job for customers while delivering good returns for our shareholders.

“But we still have a lot of work to do and plenty of issues from the past to reckon with. Everyone at RBS is focused squarely on doing everything we can to earn the trust of our customers and in the process change the banking sector for the benefit of the UK.”

RBS said it expects a “modest increase” in its net interest margin for the rest of the year and meet its goal of £1bn in cost reductions.

It added: “Incremental savings in the first quarter have been primarily tactical in nature, while the benefits of more strategic restructuring of the cost base will feed through later in the year.

“Restructuring costs are likely to be considerably higher for the remainder of the year than the rate implied by the first quarter.”