Royal Bank of Scotland upbeat over profits despite credit crunch

NatWest parent Royal Bank of Scotland today revealed write-downs of £1.5bn (€2.8bn) from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, but said profits were set to beat expectations.

The group said it hoped full-year operating profits would come in “well ahead” of market forecasts, despite suffering write-downs of £1.2bn (€1.6bn) and a further £300m (€416m) at its recently acquired ABN Amro business.