National Irish Bank has announced a pre-tax loss of €661m for the 12 months to the end of December.
After what the bank called possibly the worst year in Irish banking history, National Irish Bank said that its income fell by 13% to €178m and it has set aside €704m for impairment charges. The bank posted an operating profit - before impairment charges - of €42m, a fall of 42% from the previous year.
'Our 2009 results reflect the severe economic recession and what has possibly been the worst year in Irish banking history,' commented NIB's CEO Andrew Healy.
'Income is down because of reduced business activity levels and higher funding costs. It's clear the property market remains frozen and this has led us to set aside very high impairment charges,' he added.
NIB is owned by Dankse Bank, which this morning announced a 113% rise in operating profits to €4.1 billion, with €3.5 billion set aside for loan impairment charges.
Last December, NIB said it was closing 25 of its 58 branches in Ireland with the loss of 150 jobs.
National Irish Bank said its total loan book stands at €10.3 billion. It said that mortgages represent €3.8 billion with loan quality 'remaining satisfactory'.
It said that €3.3 billion of the loan book is made up of commercial property with most of its loan impairment charges in this area.
Deposits increased by 25% over the year. NIB holds 4% of the Irish banking market.
