Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) (NYSE: RBS.US) has advanced 41% to 335p during the last twelve months, making the share one of the best performers in the FTSE 100 index.
The bank, which serves 24 million customers through 2,200 branches in the UK, seems to have impressed investors with a series of resilient statements.
During February RBS announced its 2012 results, which showed core operating profits improving 5% to £6,341m.
The bank noted its expenses had dropped by 4% and impairments had declined by 13%, and also claimed its funding and liquidity positions were “very strong“.
During May, RBS issued a first-quarter statement that revealed “pleasing progress” alongside earnings of £393m and a net tangible asset value of 459p per share.
In addition, the Q1 update disclosed full-year operating costs would be lower than the City’s £13.2bn estimate.
Then last month, RBS disclosed half-year results that showed the bank’s first two consecutive quarterly profits since 2008. Total six-month earnings came in at £535m while the core tier 1 ratio advanced from 10.3% to 11.1%.
Stephen Hester, the chief executive of RBS, said at the time:
“The results of our successful restructuring continue to show benefits — capital strength and liquidity up, balance sheet, Non-Core assets and Non-Core/Irish losses all down, again. The business challenges ahead lie principally in improving future operating trends and sustaining the focus and consistency needed to make further progress.“
The next update from RBS will be published on November 1st, which may reveal further news that can encourage investors.
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> Maynard does not own any share mentioned in this article.
