Losses after tax in the first three months of the year stood at 968 million pounds (USD 1.4 billion, 1.2 billion euros), which compared with a net loss of 459 million pounds in the first quarter of 2015, RBS said in an earnings statement.
Pre-tax profits came in at 421 million pounds, up from 37 million pounds.
However the bottom-line net figure was hit by RBS having to pay the government almost 1.2 billion pounds in order to allow the bank to begin paying dividends again.
The Edinburgh-based lender remains around 73 per cent owned by the British government after it was saved with 45.5 billion pounds of taxpayers' cash at the height of the 2008 global financial crisis -- resulting in the world's biggest banking bailout.
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The group, under the leadership of chief executive Ross McEwan, launched a massive overhaul in 2015 that slashed the bank's investment banking activities and axed thousands of jobs.
However it still managed to suffer its eighth straight annual loss last year, and in common with many other major banks, RBS has faced huge fines and compensation demands for its alleged role in the manipulation of foreign exchange market and Libor interest rates.