NIB PUTS ASIDE ANOTHER €198M FOR IMPAIRED LOANS - National Irish Bank, which has around 4% of the Irish market, has produced some results for the first three months of the year. The bank has set aside €198m to cover impaired loans for the first quarter - that compares with €228m for the whole of last year. But the bank is turning a profit - €21m in the first quarter. This is 90% up on the same time last year. In 2008 they lost a total of €550m. The bank has been cutting costs in recent months and they are down 13% on this time last year. NIB's CEO Andrew Healy says the bank is fortunate in these difficult times to be part of Danske Bank Group, 'a strong, well capitalised and supportive parent'.
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TESCO TO UNVEIL BRAND CHANGES IN BORDER SHOPS - Dozens of Irish produced brands in Tesco stores are set to come under significant price pressure from today as they face fresh competition from cheaper imported equivalents. The UK supermarket multiple has repriced international brand groceries at 11 of its stores in border counties in a fightback against cross border shopping. Tesco says the reopened stores will carry the same groceries but they will be sourced from the UK rather than through local Irish distributors. 4% of the country's total grocery shopping is going across the border, that is around €480m.
Paul Kelly from the lobby group, Food and Drink Industry Ireland, says today is a black day for the Irish food industry as some Irish brands may totally disappear from the Tesco shelves. He says the move will result in job losses and Irish products would not be as prominent on supermarket shelves. He says the fact that many people are heading north to do their shopping can not be denied, and says that this should be a wake-up call for the Government. He points to the 'massive loss of competitiveness' that the Irish food industry has experienced in the last couple of years.
