RBS makes large stride on road to recovery

Royal Bank of Scotland's quest to escape from bottomless perdition received a boost as first quarter profits came in ahead of market expectations.

Royal Bank of Scotland's quest to escape from bottomless perdition received a boost as first quarter profits came in ahead of market expectations.

Group operating profit of £1,184m in the first quarter of 2012 contrasted with a £144m loss in the preceding quarter and even improved on the profit of £1,133m in the corresponding quarter of 2011. More importantly for traders, the figure was well ahead of market expectations (according to RBS) of £900m, though it is easy to feel sympathy for investment analysts who have to make sense of the labyrinthine accounts of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

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