RBS half-year profits climb 14%
Royal Bank of Scotland today signalled that levels of bad consumer debt in the UK were stabilising as it posted a 14% hike in half-year profits to £3.69bn (€5.31bn).
RBS does much of its business outside Britain and owns the Ulster Bank group and First Active.
The Edinburgh-based group said it had to put aside more cash to cover higher levels of arrears in the UK.
It followed evidence from a series of other UK banks that increasing numbers of people have fallen behind on repayments on credit cards and loans.
Chief executive Fred Goodwin said the group’s increasing diversity meant it was not overly dependent on the performance of any single economy.
