Head man

8 August 2008 By George Hay Follow @gfhay

Royal Bank of Scotland has posted its first loss in 40 years, but results were better than bearish forecasts. That might relieve the pressure on its chairman and chief executive. More nasty news from the bank’s US arm in the future and a UK recession could crank it up again.

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Royal Bank of Scotland shares rose 3.2% to 340p by 11.30am on August 8, following the disclosure of the bank's interims.

The group's impairment charge taken through the income statement increased by 58%, creating a pretax loss of £691m and a net loss of £791m.

Structured credit exposure, which also came through the income statement, stayed constant at £5.9bn. However, RBS further wrote down the value of its AltA mortgages from 52p in the pound to 39p in the pound.

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