Royal Bank of Scotland has suffered a quarterly loss of £469m, after conduct and legal costs continued to dent the bank's bottom line.
According to results for the three months to the end of September, the bank suffered a £469m loss, after making a £940m pre-tax profit over the same period last year.
This continues the downward trend after the group was also hit with a £2bn loss in the first half of this year.
The update, published today (28 October), also confirmed that RBS will miss its deadline for the sale of its branches arms of Williams & Glyn, which was set to be offloaded next year.
Clydesdale Bank announced it had engaged in discussions to buy Williams & Glyn earlier this week after Santander pulled out of the takeover deal.
However, RBS said it was now in talks with HM Treasury and expects further engagement with the European Commission because the proposals under discussion are unable to meet the 2017 deadline.
RBS also faced £469m in restructuring costs, and charges amounting to £425m for conduct and litigation linked to the sale of mortgage-backed securities in the US in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
RBS was granted a £45.5bn bailout out by the UK government during the crisis
The banking giant made a £2.5bn loss in the first nine months of 2016, compared to the £761m gain made between January and September last year.
However, RBS said it remains on track to achieve a cost reduction amounting to £800m in 2016, after achieving a £695m reduction in the first nine months of the year.
In a statement, the bank said: “The current low interest rate and low growth environment presents a range of uncertainties which could impact the performance of our core business.”
RBS also stated it does not expect to achieve its cost/income ratio and returns targets by 2019 as previously indicated back in 2014.
