Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported a pre-tax loss of £21m for the first quarter of 2010, after “one of the most significant corporate restructuring” programmes ever made.
The bank, which is 84%-owned by the taxpayer, announced operating profits of £713m for the first quarter of 2010, up from a £1.35bn loss for the same three months last year.
But the pre-tax loss came after one-off costs, including £500m paid into a government-backed insurance scheme for bad debts, were taken into account, the BBC has reported.
Last year, RBS was forced to make thousands of redundancies as it struggled during the recession.
Chief executive Stephen Hester said the bank was implementing a five-year plan for recovery.
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He said: “Today we show that we remain on track for delivery of that plan. We have made good progress but there is still significant work to be done.”
Last month, chairman Sir Philip Hampton admitted bankers’ pay was excessive.
