Royal Bank of Scotland posts $1.5 billion in half-year loss

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC on Friday reported a half-year loss of 802 million pounds ($1.5 billion), forced deep into the red by 5.9 billion pounds ($11.4 billion) in write-downs as the U.S. subprime credit crisis exacted more pain fully a year after it began. The loss for Britain's second largest bank compared to a fat 3.6 billion pound profit it made in January to June of 2007, the bank's best-ever half-year. It is the first time in 40 years that RBS has posted a loss. Total income also fell over the same period to 13.7 billion pounds, from 14.7 billion pounds. The Edinburgh-based bank's results were largely due to 5.9 billion pounds from losses on assets exposed to the credit crisis, which gathered force in August, 2007. Many mark its beginning in Europe as a year ago this Sunday, when the European Central Bank was... [read full story]