Golf
RBS end Open sponsorship
2010-08-28 16:17
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London - Royal Bank of Scotland has ended its nine-year sponsorship of the British Open golf tournament, a spokesperson said on Saturday.
RBS is 83% owned by the British taxpayer after being rescued during the financial crisis, and has been under pressure to cut costs.
Sponsoring the Open, the world's oldest golf tournament, reportedly cost more than one million pounds a year.
"For over a century we have enjoyed a close and mutually beneficial relationship with (Open organisers) The R&A and in the last nine years as an official patron to The Open Championship," an RBS spokesperson said.
She added: "It is now time for us to step aside from our involvement as a patron of The Open Championship and we wish The R&A well in the continued development of one of the world’s major sporting events."
RBS made a net profit of nine million pounds in the six months to June, compared with a loss of 1.04 billion pounds in the first half of 2009.