Shares in Britain\\\'s RBS soar after surprise profit

Royal Bank of Scotland posted a surprise 1 billion pound ($1.7 billion) pretax profit for the second quarter thanks to a turnaround in losses from bad loans, prompting it to release earnings a week early. The numbers far exceeded analysts' expectations for the bank that is 81 percent owned by the British government after being bailed out during the 2008/09 financial crisis. It sent RBS shares soaring by 14 per cent to 376 pence, on course for their biggest one-day gain since April 2009 and boosting chances of the taxpayer recouping what it invested - though maybe not for several more years because the price is still 25 per cent below what the state paid. RBS said the profit was mainly because of an economic upturn that allowed it to write back losses that had been booked on bad loans, giving it a net release of 93 million pounds. The bank made an operating profit of 1.3 billion pounds in the second quarter, up from 174 million pounds a year ago. Its 1.01 billion pound pretax profit was in contrast to expectations that it would post a small loss, based on analyst forecasts compiled by the company, according to Reuters.