National Irish Bank has reported pre-tax profits of €28m for the year to the end of December 2007, up from €4m the previous year.
The bank, owned by Danske Bank Group, said its underlying profit - before integration expenses - more than doubled to €79m last year.
Lending at the bank rose by 35% year on year to €9.3 billion. Mortgage lending grew by 41% and NIB says it estimates that it won over 15% of the switcher market last year. It said its LTV mortgage packages have now exceeded €2.2 billion since the product's launch at the end of 2006.
Business loans at the bank grew by 34%, while customer deposits increased by 12% year on year.
NIB said its credit loss expenses amounted to €16m. It said a significant proportion of this relates to 'provisions made in respect of the industry wide issues involving two solicitors'. Asset quality remains sound, the bank stated.
The bank said its expansion programme is progressing well with five new branches opened in 2007 and at least five more due to open this year.
'2007 was a year of strong growth in personal and business banking and I feel we have a lot more to offer in 2008 and beyond,' commented Andrew Healy, National Irish Bank's chief executive.
'Clearly the economic climate in Ireland in 2008 will be tougher than it has been for some time. However, it's my view that the sense of pessimism has been overdone. Our country remains an attractive place to do business,' he added.
