The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced on Thursday its operating loss for the third quarter of 2019 stood at £8 million, down from a profit of £969 million year-on-year. Loss per share amounted to 2.6 pence while 12 months before earnings per share stood at 3.7 pence.
The bank dropped in another area as loss attributable to ordinary shareholders reached £315 million. In Q3 of 2018, the profit stood at £448 million. The cost-income ratio revealed more concerning data as it went from 66.7% in the third quarter of 2018 to 92.9% for the same period in 2019. The cost-income target for 2020 was set under 50%, but RBS considers it unlikely to reach after the Q3 results.
"These results demonstrate our solid underlying performance in a tough operating environment. The core retail and commercial bank continues to perform well, and we are making good progress against our targets for the year. We have seen strong growth across the business and our sustained high levels of capital and liquidity mean we are well positioned to support our customers in these uncertain times,” Chief Financial Officer Katie Murray stated.
