NIB's H1 loss in line with expectations

Thursday, 10 August 2006

National Irish Bank has reported a pre-tax loss of €17.3m for the six months to the end of June, in line with expectations.

The bank, which was bought by Danske Bank last year, said the loss reflected substantial costs associated with the bank's change programme. These included the migration to the Danish bank's technology platform (€21.4m) and the write-off of intangible acquisition related assets (€6.8m).

NIB said that at the end of June, lending volumes stood at €5.6 billion, an increase of 54% in the last 12 months. Mortgage volumes rose by 55%. The bank also said that both business and mortgage lending were significantly ahead of market growth.

Customer deposits amounted to €2.3 billion, an underlying increase of 8%.

National Irish Bank has plans to open 15 new branches over the next three years. This is part of a €25m investment programme which will increase its branch network by 25%.

'Significant financial and operational progress was made by National Irish Bank during the quarter, ' commented Andrew Healy, CEO of National Irish Bank.

'It was pleasing that during such a period of massive change, the underlying business performed strongly with business and consumer lending volumes, including mortgages, up by more than 50%. Overall our financial performance was in line with expectations,' he added.

'We are very confident about the future as we continue to defferentiate National Irish Bank in Irish banking,' Mr Healy said.