Europelenders back away from targets again

London

EUROPEAN banks have pushed back profitability targets so many times, the dates are now more placeholders than deadlines.

Eight years after the financial crisis hit its peak, several of the region's lenders said that they'll probably need more time to reach the return on equity (ROE) goals they set for the next few years. Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (RBS) on Friday became the latest to do so, blaming the impact of lower-for-longer interest rates and depressed customer activity after the UK's vote to leave the European Union. The state-owned firm joined HSBC Holdings plc, Standard Chartered plc and UBS Group AG, who all also watered down their return guidance when presenting second-quarter results.