The British banking industry turned heads Friday as the Royal Bank of Scotland returned a profit, lending to the five biggest UK banks over £15 billion in half year pre-tax profits. This turnaround is in stark contrast to last year’s assessment of billions of pounds of losses from loans and government bailouts.

While the government probably won’t be selling off shares of the £6.7 billion in taxpayer shares, it’s still a promising signal that taxpayers could eventually see a return from the £62 billion that was invested to bail out both RBS and Lloyds Banking Group.

Big Banks in UK Turn Profit

The 70% state owned RBS showed a significant improvement on Friday compared to the last three years when profit was scarce. But people should be wary of a turnaround in such dire times as today. There are too many things that could bring this news crashing to the ground, once again.

Since major restructuring of the banks began, many have stated the government involved in public banking was running a risk too high for taxpayers to meet. But so far, it seems as though it’s working out well.

While some banks have determined they might leave the UK due to lack of competitiveness since the government has taken over many aspects, RBS stated that it would be highly unlikely they would leave the UK. This is good news for everyone that hopes the government bailouts work.