Government-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC reported Thursday a loss of 3.6 billion pounds ($5.5 billion) for 2009, ahead of market forecasts, as income rose by 34 percent.

The loss compared to a 24.3 billion pounds loss, a British corporate record, racked up by RBS in 2008 following the disastrous takeover of the Dutch Bank ABN Amro.

Income was 31.7 billion pounds, up from 23.6 billion pounds in 2008.

RBS, which is 84 percent owned by the government, said its operating loss fell from 6.9 billion pounds in 2008 to 6.2 billion pounds.

In the fourth quarter, RBS reported a net loss of 765 million pounds, down from 1.8 billion in the third quarter.