A strong performance in Royal Bank of Scotland's new corporate markets division has left the bank on track to meet analysts' estimates for the first six months of the year. The bank was less bullish than rival Barclays, which said last month it would beat consensus estimates this year.

RBS said in a pre-close trading update today ahead of its interim results on August 4: "The group has continued to achieve good growth in income, with strong performances in corporate markets, particularly global banking and markets. Our interim results are expected to be in line with expectations."