Good and bad news from good and bad N Rock

There was good and bad news from Northern Rock when the nationalised bank reported its six-month figures today - the first since the bank was split into two on January 1.

The so-called 'good bank' - Northern Rock plc, which handles savings and new loans - reported a loss of £142m. This was due to account holders pulling out savings following the government's withdrawal of its 100 per cent guarantee on deposits, and to the bank's closure of its Guernsey off-shore operation.

But the so-called 'bad bank' - Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM), which holds most of the rescued bank's old mortgages and unsecured loans - has reported a return to profit.

NRAM made a pre-tax profit of £349m for the first six months of the year, compared with a loss of £724m in the same period last year.

Northern Rock plc chief executive Gary Hoffman said the results were "in line with our expectations" and that plans to return the business to the private sector were still on course, though this would have to wait until "conditions are right to do so, in the best interests of the taxpayer".

There was "no deadline", he said, for a sale of Northern Rock.

Read a full report at the Guardian. ·