British banking giant Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported an attributable loss of £1.98bn for 2015, compared to a loss of £3.47bn in the prior year.
The bank posted a loss of £2.72bn in the year from continuing operations, compared to a profit of £734m in 2014.
Net interest income declined 5.3% to £8.76bn from £9.26bn a year earlier. Operating expenses jumped 17.9% to £16.35bn from £13.86bn in the prior year.
Litigation and conduct costs increased to £3.57bn from £2.19bn a year ago, while restructuring costs increased to £2.93bn from £1.15bn a year ago.
The bank’s personal & business banking (PBB) division includes two reportable segments- UK Personal & Business Banking (UK PBB) and Ulster Bank.
UK PBB reported an operating profit of £1.03bn in 2015, down 9% from £1.13bn a year ago.
Net interest income dropped 1.6% to £4.15bn from £4.22bn a year ago. Operating expenses rose 0.4% year-on-year to £4.17bn.
Ulster Bank recorded an operating profit of £262m, a fall of 46.4% from £489m in 2014. The unit’s net interest income dropped 21.8% to £365m from £467m a year earlier.
RBS CEO Ross McEwan said: "Our pace of progress has resulted in a set of financials that are noisier than any of us would like, but it has resulted in a much stronger and simpler bank, with a much clearer investment case.
"We are delivering our eighth consecutive quarter of capital ratio growth. When I took over as CEO our capital ratio was 8.6%, today it sits at 15.5%. We are becoming much simpler, taking £983m of costs out of the business this year and over £2bn in the last two years."
