RBS first half to be in line with previous guidance

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said on Wednesday that its results for the first six months of the year should be satisfactory and in line with previous guidance.

The bank said that operating performance in many of its businesses were good in the first half of the year despite being held back by the effects of the continuing deterioration in credit markets.

RBS said, Overall, the group's underlying results, excluding write-downs on credit market exposures, are expected to remain satisfactory.

In April of this year RBS announced £5.9 billion in write-downs resulting from the credit crunch. Last week the bank completed a record £12 billion rights issue in order to shore up its capital.