Britain's largest government controlled investment bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, reported less than expected net loss for the full year 2009.

RBS recorded a net loss of £3.61 billion for the last fiscal compared to a net loss of £24.3 billion in 2008 and a net loss of £765 million for the quarter ended on Dec 31 against £3.1 billion for the same period of the previous financial year. Bad debt and rise in impairment charges were held responsible for the loss.

At the time of financial crisis, RBS received the world's largest bailout from the government worth £ 45.5 billion and it was under pressure from the govt. to shed businesses over four years to make sure it wouldn't lose its competitive advantage over peers.

According to officials of the company, "Signs that impairments might have peaked appear to have been borne out in the fourth quarter, and there are indications that the pace of downwards credit rating migration for corporate is slowing."