A
mixed bag of news for ‘our’ favourite bank RBS for Q1 2014.
On
the plus side, it is making profit……and good profit at that. The troubled bank
has doubled its profits in comparison to the same period in 2013.
How
has RBS done it? Pretty simple really……sales up (14%) and costs down (15%)……the
pretty basic features of most business profits. Which begs the question……why has
it taken 5 ½ years to get to this stage.
There
is a ‘but’ though……isn’t there always with RBS! The bank still expects to make
a loss for 2014 due to the enormity of the fines / compensation they expect to
receive during 2014.
So
where does that leave the small matter of ‘us’ looking for a return on ‘our’
£45 billion investment in bailing the bank out?
More
patience I’m afraid. The best case scenario is a return to sharing profit via a
dividend payment in from 2016 (‘ish).
I’m
not sure that too many people would have agreed at outset to an investment with
no return for 8 years!
The
pain continues I’m afraid.
Not to worry Steve, after all, the ftse100 is apparently set to herald a growth in Pension funds for the next 10 to 15 years so that's good news for many! Isn't it? Regards, Graeme
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