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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| RBS reports first profit in 10 years | RBS reports first profit in 10 years |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Royal Bank of Scotland has returned to profit for the first time in a decade as it continues its recovery. | Royal Bank of Scotland has returned to profit for the first time in a decade as it continues its recovery. |
| Chief executive Ross McEwan told the BBC it was "a really symbolic moment." | |
| The bank, which is majority-owned by the taxpayer, made an annual profit of £752m compared with a £6.95bn loss the year before. | The bank, which is majority-owned by the taxpayer, made an annual profit of £752m compared with a £6.95bn loss the year before. |
| RBS still faces a potentially massive fine from the US Department of Justice over the sale of financial products linked to risky mortgages. | RBS still faces a potentially massive fine from the US Department of Justice over the sale of financial products linked to risky mortgages. |
| The bank had expected to settle the case in 2017, but is now hoping it will reach an agreement this year. | |
| RBS set aside an extra £492m for US litigation, taking the total set aside for US court action around the sale of those products to £3.2bn. | |
| The bank, which is 71%-owned by the taxpayer, has spent the past decade restructuring itself. | |
| Mr McEwan said that 10 years ago RBS was the largest bank in the world, with a balance sheet of £2.2 trillion. This has now sunk to about £750bn. | |
| "We've been restructuring the bank to being a really good UK/Republic of Ireland business," he told the BBC. | |
| "It's taken time but it's also taken a lot of cost to come out of countries and businesses that we just didn't want to be in. | |
| "We are now operating in 12 countries as opposed to what was 38, so very focused on the UK." |