The bank posted a pre-tax loss of £766m, but total losses topped £2bn after various accounting and tax charges were added. It follows a loss of £1.1bn in 2010.
Gross new mortgage lending in 2011 remained the same as the previous year at £16.2bn, with mortgage balances outstanding up 5% compared with 2010, while unsecured lending contracted by 11%.
RBS continues to hold a 10% share of the gross mortgage market.
It noted that a fifth of all new mortgages provided by the group in 2011 was to first-time buyers, with gross new lending to this type of borrower increasing quarter-on-quarter throughout 2011.
Mortgage arrears rates – of three or more missed payments – have remained “broadly stable” since 2009, RBS said, at 1.6%.
It said the number of properties repossessed in 2011 was 1,671, up 20% from 1,392 in 2010, while the mortgage impairment charge was £187m for 2011, an increase of 2% from 2010.
It added that customer deposits grew 6%, outperforming the market total deposit growth of 3%.
Last month RBS chief executive, Stephen Hester, turned down his bonus, worth nearly £1m in shares, after heavy political pressure.
But today it said it paid out £785m in bonuses to all its staff, with £390m going to some 17,000 of its investment bankers.
RBS is 82% owned by the state after its £45.5bn bailout in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.
