RBS takes Greek hit but overall profits rise to £2bn

Part nationalised bank Royal Bank of Scotland today reported clean operating profits had fallen sharply in the third quarter, while it had also taken a loss on its Greek debt holdings.

The bank said in its latest update that operating profits, excluding any accounting gains from debt value readjustments, came in at just £267m, down from £726m a year ago, and lower than Q2's £818m figure. The bank also reported it had written off Greek debt worth £142m in the three months to end of September. Amid the crisis in Europe, RBS followed the trend set by other banks across the region as investment-banking revenue slipped 29% to £1.1 billion from the previous quarter. Overall RBS, which is 83%-owned by the UK taxpayer, said it had made a profit of £2bn after a £2.4bn upt...