The 28th of February 2008 saw the bank’s erstwhile chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin unveil annual profits of more than £10 billion
– that’s a one followed by ten zeros, lest you forget what Scotland’s biggest bank used to be capable of.
On reflection, it’s a simply incredible number given that we’d already felt the headwinds from the US subprime housing crisis.
Perhaps more incredible (or incredulous) were the comments made by the boss at the time.
Pointing to "fragile" signs of recovery in the economy (not sure what they turned out to be), Sir Fred talked of seeing "some daylight" in the second half.
We now know there was precious little of that in the dying months of 2008.
But let’s not be too hard on Goodwin, who, like the best of us, wasn’t blessed with the wonders of hindsight.
Instead, we’ll jump back to the present
and the disclosure of a £24.1bn annual loss, as the bank was rocked by the global financial turmoil and its disastrous purchase of Dutch outfit ABN Amro.
RBS chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, was being understandably contrite with his language this morning, telling investors: "We owe our continued independence to the UK government and taxpayers and are very thankful for their support." No problem Phil.
In contrast to the misplaced optimism of Sir Fred, he warned that 2009 would be another tough year.
The bank also announced a "sweeping" shake-up with the goal of reducing costs by a massive £2.5bn a year
– a figure that is certain to ring alarm bells at the banking unions.
No figure has been placed on the potential job losses by the bank, though figures as high as 20,000 or more have been bandied about.
That sounds drastic, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the bank’s global headcount extends to about 180,000 and in many areas the natural turnover of staff can be pretty high. There’s every chance the bulk of those cuts can be achieved voluntarily.
So the big question then. Have we seen the worst of the bad news from the Royal?
New chief executive Stephen Hester, who has been pretty quick to stamp his mark on the group, refused to make forecasts for the current "difficult" year but said he was confident the restructuring move and fresh government assistance in the shape of an insurance scheme to soak up £325bn of toxic assets, would return RBS to "standalone strength".
Shares rallied strongly in morning trade, though analysts have raised concerns over further losses and capital strains.
Let’s just say that, for now, the bank appears to be turning the corner.
It’s over to Lloyds and its annual numbers tomorrow .....
