Taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was a heavy faller in the London market after revealing a sharp fall in third-quarter pre-tax profit.
The lender said its pre-tax profit before one-time items and restructuring costs came in at £842 million for the quarter, compared to £2.05 billion a year earlier.
The FTSE 100 Index opened 15.8 points down at 6379.8, following a fall of more than 40 points in the previous session.
Shares in RBS fell 3.4p to 317.3p, as it revealed litigation costs of £129 million for the quarter, principally relating to mortgage-backed securities.
BG Group saw its third quarter revenues plummet almost two thirds (63%) as it became the latest firm to be hammered by low oil prices.
But while BG Group’s underlying profits also fell 37% to 1.2 billion dollars (£782 million), this was still ahead of analysts’ expectations. Shares fell 2.5p to 1027.5p.
British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG) said growing passenger numbers and lower fuel costs led to strong third quarter results.
The group said, excluding its recent Aer Lingus acquisition, it posted a third-quarter operating profit of 1.21 billion euro (£869 million), beating analysts forecasts of 1.19 billion euro (£855 million).
However, IAG was the biggest faller in the top flight falling 28.5p to 569p, with analysts citing profit-taking in an industry which is notoriously cyclical.
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