Investing
RBS shares soar as profits double to £1.6bn

Royal Bank of Scotland has announced profits of £1.6bn for the first quarter of 2014, far surpassing expectations and sending shares soaring over 10 per cent.
For the three months to 31 March, the firm near doubled its profit before tax from £826m in the first quarter of 2013. Operating profit also doubled to £1.5bn, up from £747m last year.
This is only the sixth time that the firm has announced a profitable quarter following its government takeover in 2008.
The results were better than analysts had expected. They had forecast pre-tax profits of £300m and operating profits of £800m.
In reaction, shares jumped over 10 per cent initially to over 336p.
Shore Capital – which rates shares as a hold – said the bank had seen better revenues than expected, and lower impairments.

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RBS chief executive Ross McEwan said the results showed the firm was in a steady state and he was in the process of making the firm the UK’s most trusted bank.
However, he said 2014 would be a tough year due to costs of restructuring the business and expected regulatory fines.