'Biggest UK banking loss in history' to be announced by RBS
RBS, Britain's second-biggest bank, is set to announce the biggest loss in the sector's history this week.According to a group of analysts, who spoke to the Reuters news agency, the firm will say on Friday that it lost £1.2 billion from January to June 2008.This is the largest single negative earnings declaration of any UK bank.Credit crunch related asset writedowns of £5.9 billion have already been announced by RBS, and it is anticipated that these losses will be a key factor behind the record declaration.A further source of stress is the firm's takeover last year of Dutch lender ABN Amro as part of a consortium, which was completed just before the onset of the credit crisis.The bank has already made moves to shore up its balance sheet, completing a revenue-boosting £12 billion rights issue to shareholders earlier this year.RBS' insurance unit is also likely to be sold off in months to come.Over the first half of last year, the bank posted earnings of around £5 billion.
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