The Wall Street Journal reports Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Friday said it swung to a net loss for the first six months of the year after making write-downs prior to its GBP 12 bln ($23.3 bln) rights issue in the spring. The bank said its net loss was GBP 802 mln, compared with a profit of GBP 3.56 bln a year earlier. RBS took GBP 5.93 bln in write-downs on credit market exposure in the first six months, in line with the GBP 5.9 bln flagged in April. RBS said markdowns on monolines were higher than previously expected, while mark-downs on leveraged finance holdings were lower. Total revenue, comprising net interest and non-interest income amounted to GBP 13.73 bln in the first six months, down 7% from GBP 14.69 bln a year earlier. www.theoddlot.net