Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns Ulster Bank, has said its profits surged in 2007, despite taking a big hit from credit-crunch related losses.
RBS said strains from the global squeeze on credit, which stemmed from the US sub-prime home loan crisis, cost the group £2.5 billion last year. That was significantly higher than its estimate of £1.25 billion announced in December.
RBS joins the ranks of major global banks to suffer major losses in 2007 owing to complex securities products that were backed by loans given to US home-buyers with risky credit histories. The US sub-prime crisis also sparked a worldwide squeeze on credit last August as commercial banks became reluctant to lend to each other.
But RBS net profits swelled by 21% last year to just under £7.55 billion, excluding the takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro. Turnover increased 3% to just under £29 billion.
Including the ABN takeover, net profit was up almost 18% to £7.3 billion and turnover surged 11% to £31 billion.
Last year, a European consortium led by RBS and including Belgian-Dutch group Fortis and Spain's Banco Santander bought ABN Amro for €71 billion.
