Irish recovery helps RBS in plans

British government-backed Royal Bank of Scotland will release £800m (€1.03bn) from provisions it had set aside to cover losses on bad loans after an improvement in economic conditions, especially here in Ireland.

RBS said yesterday it also expected losses from bad loans to be “significantly” lower than its previous guidance of £1bn this year, helped by improving asset prices.

Its shares jumped 4.2%, to 376.5p in early trading yesterday, the strongest performer in a flat European bank index.