RBS ditches Williams & Glyn plans and announces losses

However RBS said that it was still looking for a way to sell off the bank.

Royal Bank Scotland hasditched plans to separate the Williams & Glyn branch network despite having spent a whopping £1.4bn trying to spin off the bank.

It blamed IT complicationsfor the failure and is now looking to sell the network to another bank with Santander being mooted as a potential suitor.

The state-owned bank also reported a £2.04bn loss in the first six months of 2016 as it was hit with a PPI bill of £1.31bn and£450m in restructuring costs.

It also warned that the outcome of the UK's EU referendum hadcreated "considerable uncertainty" and that it will "continue to assess all its implications".

It added: "In the current low rate and low growth environment, achieving our longer term cost-to-incomeratio and return targets by 2019 is likely to be more challenging."

RBS must divest Williams & Glyn as before the end of next year as an EU condition for receiving a £45bn bailout during the financial crisis.