LONDON: Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. said it is on course to meet market forecasts for the full year. The bank, U.K.'s second largest, said there has been robust growth in international operations, which it hoped will contribute to profitability.
The Edinburgh-based bank said in a regulatory news service update that its full year net interest margin will be lower for the full year than in the first half. Analysts have estimated the 2005 profit before tax and non-recurring items at about 8.1 billion pounds and underlying earnings per share to be 175 pence for the year ending December.
The bank's chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin said the diversity of the bank's income streams will enable it to continue to deliver good results and strong financial metrics for the year.
The statement said costs would represent a similar proportion of income for the full year as they did at the half-way stage. Group lending margins would be slightly lower. The bad debt charge for the full year would represent a lower proportion of the total loan book than it did over the first half.
Sir Fred said the bank is not looking at any further takeovers. Analysts said this could be an indication that the surplus cash could be returned to shareholders.
The bank had taken a 10 per cent stake in Bank of China in August this year for 1.7 billion pounds and Sir Fred said the bank is examining the possibility of a consumer finance joint venture with the Chinese bank.
The update, however, did not enthuse investors, After an hour of trading Thursday, the price fell by 25 pence to 1,686 pence, giving the bank a market cap of 54.5 billion pounds.
The bank will come out with its results on 28 February.
Posted
on : Thu, 08 Dec 2005 16:15 GMT | Banking News
By : Paula Jenkins
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