The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has posted quarter three profits of £952m, up slightly from £896 million in Q3 2014.

This included the £1.1bn sale of its remaining 20% stake in US banking business Citizens.

RBS said that restructuring costs remained high at £847 million; however, litigation and conduct costs were £129 million compared with £780 million in Q3 2014.

The bank’s UK personal & business banking operating profit of £638 million was up 28% from Q3 2014. Return on equity in the quarter was 32%, compared with 23% in the prior year principally due to lower litigation and conduct costs.

Mortgage activity strengthened further in Q3, with applications up 66% from £6.2 billion in Q3 2014 to £10.2 billion and new business market share of approvals increasing to 15%.

Total loans and advances increased by £3.8 billion during the quarter, with total mortgage balances at 30 September 2015 up 6% compared with Q3 2014.