Job cuts likely after RBS fall

ROYAL Bank of Scotland has warned of more job cuts and branch closures after plunging £7billion into the red last year.

RBS, more than 70 per cent owned by the taxpayer, has now racked up more than £58million of losses since its £45billion Government bailout in 2008 and does not expect to return to profit until 2018.

Chief executive Ross McEwan, below, did not disclose how many jobs are at risk from the bank’s proposed £2billion of cuts over the next four years, but indicated branches would continue to close to reflect the ongoing shift to online banking.

The bank’s ninth straight annual loss, up from just under £2billion the previous year, followed £10billion of one-off items including £5.9billion for potential fines and legal costs and a further £2billion for restructuring.

It also paid £1.2billion in dividends to the Treasury. McEwan, who intends to stay at the helm to oversee RBS’s return to profitability, said RBS had made “good progress” in 2016, pointing to its core business generating an adjusted pre-tax operating profit of £4.2billion.

He added: “The bottom line loss we have reported today is, of course, disappointing but given the scale of the legacy issues we worked through in 2016 it should not come as a surprise.

“These costs are a stark reminder of what happens to a bank when things go wrong and you lose focus on the customer, as this bank did before the financial crisis. “We were the fastest growing large bank in the UK last year with £24billion of new lending into the economy supporting over a million businesses and home owners. This bank has great potential.

“We believe that by going further on cost reduction and faster on digital transformation we will deliver a simpler, safer and even more customer-focused bank.”

RBS shares fell 11¼p to 238¼p. ●Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered swung back into the black last year with a $409million (£328million) profit, compared with a $1.5billion loss in 2015.

But it decided against paying a dividend as it rebuilds its finances and invests for future growth, saying: “The turnaround of profitability is at a relatively early stage and a number of economic and regulatory uncertainties remain.”