RBS has reported a Group pre-tax profit of £826 million for the first quarter of 2013, compared with a loss of £2,227 million in Q4 2012.

Group operating profit was £829 million, up 50% from Q4 2012, driven by a reduction in Non-Core losses.

Core lending to SMEs rose 1% from Q4 2012 to £34 billion, while the wider market remained flat.

UK residential mortgage lending remained broadly stable at £110.2 billion. UK Retail mortgage balances stand 33% above 2008 levels, although Q1 2013 volumes were affected by extensive staff retraining.

During Q1 2013 RBS offered over £1.5 billion of discounted loans to SMEs and more than £327 million of mortgages to homebuyers in association with the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS).

During the quarter RBS offered more than £13 billion of loans and facilities to UK businesses, including £8 billion to SMEs, and renewed nearly £7 billion of overdrafts, of which £2 billion was for SMEs.

The average interest rate charged on RBS’s SME loans was 3.88% in Q1 2013, down from 3.93% in the prior quarter and from 4.14% in Q1 2012.