Bank profits soar 17%

Royal Bank of Scotland today added another £3.38bn (€5.13bn) to the bumper profits haul accumulated by the UK’s biggest banks in the first six months of 2004.

The group, whose brands include NatWest and insurance business Churchill, increased bottom-line profits by 17% on a year earlier as it attempts to beat the £6.16bn (€9.34bn) recorded for the whole of last year.