Hester: Marathon, not sprint
Stephen Hester, RBS chief executive, comments on the bank’s profit:
“RBS second quarter results show that the bank remains on track to meet the far-reaching goals of our five year restructuring plan which commenced last year. We are making good progress with disposals and overall business restructuring. Our customer base is solid and I believe that the future potential of RBS for all its constituencies becomes increasingly visible.
“The rebuilding of RBS is a marathon and not a sprint. I am pleased with the steady momentum in our core customer-facing businesses.
“However, our path to the sustainable profitability and other improvements we target will not be linear, given the scale of management action in our core businesses, continuing risk reduction in non-core and the impact on both of a changeable economic
and regulatory environment.
“We are making good progress with disposals and overall business restructuring.”
