RBS reports £2bn annual loss

The Bank attributed the loss to litigation and conduct costs of £3.6bn, including £600m to cover PPI misselling claims, and £2.9bn in restructuring costs.

RBS' underlying profit was recorded at £4.4bn, down from £6bn in 2014.

RBS' UK Personal & Business Banking saw a more positive year, with an adjusted operating profit of £2.2bn, broadly stable compared with the prior year.

New mortgage lending totalled £9.3 billion, RBS’s strongest performance since 2009, albeit at lower overall margins as customers shift from standard variable rate to fixed rate products.

The Bank estimates restructuring costs to total £5 billion, with costs over 2016 amounting to £1 billion.

Ross McEwan, Chief Executive, said:

"Our underlying performance over the year shows the strength - and further potential - of our core businesses, but the conduct and restructuring issues mentioned have taken their toll on our bottom line. While adjusted operating profit for the year totalled £4,405 million, we recorded a full year attributable loss of £1,979 million.

"The UK government’s decision to start disposing of its majority stake in RBS during 2015 was a significant step forward, and underlined the progress we have made over the last two years. We have previously said that we are in phase two of our plan, working through as many of the remaining conduct and restructuring issues as we can. This is a tough but important part of our plan and we are determined to get through it as quickly as possible."