RBS Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC

By Oliver Griffin

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS.LN) on Friday reported a sharp rise in operating pretax profit for the second quarter of 2019 and declared a special dividend.

The majority state-owned U.K. lender made a profit of 1.68 billion pounds ($2.04 billion) for the three months ended June 30, compared with GBP613 million in the year-earlier period.

Total income for the second quarter of the year rose 20% to GBP4.08 billion, RBS said. Its net interest margin--the difference between what it collects on loans and pays out on deposits--for the second quarter was 1.78%. Net profit for the second quarter rose to GBP1.33 billion, from GBP96 million in the year-earlier period.

For the first half of the year, RBS said operating pretax profit rose 48% to GBP2.69 billion, while total income rose to GBP7.12 billion from GBP6.7 billion. Its net interest margin for the first half was 1.83%.

The bank said its CET1 ratio--a key measure of balance-sheet strength--at the end of the half-year period stood at 16%.

RBS maintained its interim dividend at 2 pence a share, but also declared a special dividend of 12 pence a share.

The bank said it backed its full-year guidance for 2019. However, citing current market conditions and continued political and economic uncertainty, the bank said it is very unlikely to hit its targeted 12% return on tangible equity and cost-income ratio of less than 50% in 2020.

Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com; @OliGGriffin

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 02, 2019 02:46 ET (06:46 GMT)

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