“Jury is out’ on RBC’s US retail unit

Gordon Nixon, CEO of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) told an investor conference in Toronto on 11 January that the “jury is out” on the future of RBC’s retail unit in the US.

“At this point in the cycle I am not sure what we would like to do in [the US] in the longer term” said Nixon.

He has in the past said that all options were on the table as regards its 426-branch-strong US division, concentrated in the in the South East of the US.

“We are starting to see our programme in the US generate improving results but retail banking in the US remains stressed across the system.”

He said that RBC had to be convinced that the bank could make its targeted return on investment before investing any further capital in the unit.

He said that "the jury is out" on what future returns will be.

RBC’s international division reported a loss of C$317m ($319.5m) in fiscal 2010, compared with a loss of C$1.45bn in fiscal 2009.

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