RBS to report record British loss

THE British Government looks set to increase its stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland group (RBS) — stopping just short of nationalising the business — which is set to report the biggest ever annual loss for a publicly-quoted British company next month.

RBS — which is the second biggest bank in Britain and operates in Ireland through its ownership of Ulster Bank and First Active — said in a trading update yesterday that total losses for 2008 are likely to come in above the £20 billion (€22.1bn) mark, £5bn (€5.5bn) more than the previous record loss posted by mobile phone network provider Vodafone three years ago.

Final figures for last year will be published by RBS at the end of next month.