RBS to reduce office space HONG KONG: Royal Bank of Scotland Wakefield Inc. Group Pic, the UK lender scaling back Alexander Chu, the Edinburgh-based its investment-banking business, is bank's country executive for Hong planning to reduce the office space it Kong, declined to comment on the EX RBS rents in Hong Kong's Central business move. district by half, according to two peo- Rentals in grade-A office buildings ple with knowledge of the matter. fell 1.8% in the first half and may The bank leased about 60,000 sq ft in decline 3% this year, according to a The Royal Bank of Scotland the AIA Central building, the people Cushman report last month. said, declining to be named because Rentals in the greater Central area, the information isn't public. which slid 0.5% this year, would remain It planned to keep half of that for stable for the next six months as Coutts & Co, its private banking unit, demand was supported by mainland and most of the other employees would Chinese financial firms and smaller move to Lincoln House in the eastern tenants, it said. district of Quarry Bay, where RBS Grade-A office rentals in greater already leased space, by the end of the Central were HK$96.30 per sq ft a year, they said. month in the second quarter, compared Office rents in Central, where banks with HK$45.20 a sq ft in Hong Kong such as HSBC Holdings Pic and Goldman East, where Lincoln House is located, Sachs Group Inc have their regional according to data from Cushman. headquarters, are falling as foreign RBS, the United Kingdom's largest financial firms continue to downsize or state-owned lender, is shrinking its relocate to cut costs. Tenants in the city investment-banking units around the on three-year leases expiring this year world as it strives to revive profits. The may be able to negotiate on average UK government owns a majority of the rents that are 20% lower than current bank after its bailout during the global RBS is shrinking its investment-banking units around the world as it strives to revive profits. - AFP leases, according to Cushman & financial crisis. - Bloomberg Show Transcribed Text Question Bic - Besides the above move, in not less than 200 words, suggest one other strategy which could be undertaken by companies to increase company profitability. (10 Marks)