National Irish Bank has reported strong profits growth for the first half of the year, boosted by a big increase in lending.
Pre-tax profits were €12.8m, compared with losses of €17.2m in the same period last year. Underlying profits, which strip out the costs of integrating its operations with parent company Dance Bank, almost trebled to €34m.
Total income rose by 33% to €92.5m, with lending jumping 51% and deposits growing by 32%. Operating costs rose €1m to €58.5m.
Mortgage lending rose by 52%, helped by its loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage, which has recorded €1.7 billion worth of approvals since its launch in October last year.
NIB CEO Andrew Healy said the LTV product had performed very strongly despite a slowdown in the property sector and mortgage lending in general.
NIB has 61 branches and plans to open 15 new branches over the next two years.
