RBS profits triple in first quarter

London - Britain's state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland said Friday that net profits tripled to £1.2bn in the first quarter, buoyed by lower costs and falling impairments.

Earnings after taxation surged in the three months to the end of March 2014, compared with £393m in the same part of 2013, RBS said in a results statement.

Market expectations had been for a net loss of £200m and revenues of £4.7bn, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

Pre-tax profits meanwhile doubled to £1.64bn from £826m a year earlier, but the troubled bank warned that it still faced plenty of issues to deal with.

Revenues declined 2% to £5.05bn, as the bank's markets division continued to shrink.

RBS, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, remains 81% state-owned after it was rescued with £45.5bn of taxpayers' cash during the global financial crisis, making it the world's biggest-ever banking bailout.