LONDON _ Royal Bank of Scotland’s fourth-quarter loss jumped 62 per cent as it set aside more than 4 billion pounds ($5 billion) to cover the costs of misconduct during the financial crisis and targeted a return to profitability in 2018.
The taxpayer-owned bank says it posted a net loss of 4.44 billion pounds in the quarter, compared with a loss of 2.74 billion pounds a year earlier. Litigation and conduct costs totalled 4.13 billion pounds, including 3.1 billion pounds for the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.
CEO Ross McEwan says the loss is “disappointing” but it shouldn’t be surprising.
He says “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.”
