LOAN LOSSES TO REMAIN HIGH, SAYS ULSTER BANK CHIEF - Ulster Bank has reported a €414m operating loss for the year 2009 and says the results are set against the backdrop of extremely difficult market conditions.
In a statement this morning, Ulster Bank said that while the global economy is seeing signs of recovery, challenges facing the Irish economy remain.
Loan losses jumped from £106m in 2008 to £649m last year as the Irish economy continued to deteriorate. More than half of these losses were taken in the final three months of 2009.
Ulster Bank chief executive Cormac McCarthy said the losses were largely in the bank's corporate and property loans, though there were also some retail losses. He said he expected the charge for loan losses to remain high this year and next year.
Mr McCarthy said First Active's integration with Ulster Bank had been completed, and 1,000 people had left the business under a voluntary redundancy programme.
He said Ulster Bank was still a core part of its parent bank RBS, and was 'here to stay' in Ireland.
Asked about the drop in lending to customers, he said this was consistent with the market in a recession.
AIB said yesterday it was reluctant to accommodate mortgage switchers. Mr McCarthy said his bank was open to business from 'customers who want a full relationship with us'. He said this also included potential customers from Halifax, which is leaving the market.
Mr McCarthy said that until NAMA was up and running, there would not be full clarity on the banking sector's problems, and though there was a lot done, there was 'a lot to go through'.
