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| RBS downbeat despite £15m profit | RBS downbeat despite £15m profit |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which is 70%-owned by taxpayers, has reported a pre-tax profit of £15m for the first six months of the year. | Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which is 70%-owned by taxpayers, has reported a pre-tax profit of £15m for the first six months of the year. |
| The statement from RBS was downbeat, highlighting the £1bn loss after paying tax and dividends to the government and describing the results as "poor". | |
| The investment banking division fared well, making about a £5bn profit, while high street banking had a harder time. | The investment banking division fared well, making about a £5bn profit, while high street banking had a harder time. |
| RBS also said it had written off £7.5bn of bad debts. | RBS also said it had written off £7.5bn of bad debts. |
| Unlike Lloyds Banking Group earlier in the week, RBS did not say that would be the peak of the write-offs, with RBS chief executive Stephen Hester telling the BBC it was "difficult to know for certain". | Unlike Lloyds Banking Group earlier in the week, RBS did not say that would be the peak of the write-offs, with RBS chief executive Stephen Hester telling the BBC it was "difficult to know for certain". |
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| "We are now confident we can rebuild RBS," he added, undertaking to make sure taxpayers make a profit on their investments in the bank within five years. | |
| He also warned that "overall results may not substantially improve until 2011 and full recovery will take time". | He also warned that "overall results may not substantially improve until 2011 and full recovery will take time". |
| They were boosted by a £3.8bn profit from buying back the bank's own debt when the banking crisis made it cheap. | They were boosted by a £3.8bn profit from buying back the bank's own debt when the banking crisis made it cheap. |
| Mr Hester said that he had reduced the size of RBS by 26% or £574bn so far this year, which has meant selling some businesses and cutting thousands of jobs. | Mr Hester said that he had reduced the size of RBS by 26% or £574bn so far this year, which has meant selling some businesses and cutting thousands of jobs. |
| In the whole of 2008, RBS reported the biggest annual loss in UK corporate history, losing £24.1bn, mostly due to a £16.2bn write-down of assets, including on the value of ABN Amro, which it bought in 2007. | |
| The government took a £20bn stake in RBS in October to prevent its collapse. | |
| The government stake in RBS is expected to increase when the new Asset Protection Scheme comes into force. | |
| A high proportion of the RBS assets affected by the write-downs are likely to end up being covered by the insurance scheme. |