Shares in British banks were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after RBS issued somewhat disappointing full year results for 2010.

This morning RBS said it made a full year pre-tax loss of £239 million, down significantly from a loss of £1.9 billion in 2009. There were hopes that the bank might make a modest profit but it was not to be.

Banks, which are generally more sensitive to risk, also saw their shares decline thanks to continuing chaos and violence in Libya, injecting uncertainty into the market and sending oil prices soaring.

By 10:00 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 0.75 per cent to 65.01 pence per share, RBS shares declined 2.87 per cent to 45.96 pence per share, Barclays shares fell 0.50 per cent to 317.40 pence per share and HSBC shares dropped 0.52 per cent to 693.20 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 fell 0.45 per cent to 5,896.98.

Barclays HSBC FTSE Libya