RBS Surges as First-Half Profit Doubles, Impairments Fall
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc said first-half profit almost doubled as impairment charges fell and forecast it will meet a cost-cutting target of 1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) in 2014. The shares surged the most in more than four years.
Britain’s largest state-owned lender said it expects pretax profit of 2.65 billion pounds, up from 1.37 billion pounds a year earlier, according to a statement today. The earnings mark RBS’s second consecutive profitable quarter. Operating profit is seen jumping to 2.6 billion pounds from 708 million pounds, according to the results released a week early.