London pre-open: RBS's operating profit tops £1bn

6th May 2011 07:40

London's leading shares are bearing up well considering the triple digit fall last night on Wall Street for the Dow Jones index. City traders expect the Footsie to open around 8 points lower this morning.Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland made an underlying first quarter operating profit of £1.05bn, up from £882m the year before. Total income declined to £7.55bn from £8.21bn the year before, as market conditions were not so favourable this time round for the group's investment banking arm, Global Banking and Markets. Unlike Lloyds Banking yesterday, however, the bank made no provision for potential claims relating to the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, saying it is too early to reliably judge how big the financial liability could be, though management admitted it could be substantial.International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) saw an improved performance in the first quarter as it reported its first results since forming from the merger of British Airways and Spain's Iberia. The company posted a pre-tax loss of €47m (£28.5m) for the three months to 31 March, much narrower than the €273m deficit that would have been seen in the same period the previous year had the two companies existed as one entity then. Revenues soared to €3.64bn from €3.15bn.Car insurer Admiral has seen strong growth so far this year, although things are tougher at the website business Confused.com. Turnover was up by 56% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year at £539m, Admiral said in a trading statement covering 1 January to 5 May. ---jh