Permanent TSB has today reported a strong business and financial performance in the first quarter of the year on the back of higher new lending volumes and transactional banking income.
In a trading update today, Permanent TSB said its new mortgage lending soared by 69% to €721m in the first quarter while the mortgage market grew by 14%.
It said the growth was supported by the high proportion of Mortgage Switchers seen in the market in the second half of 2022 and the early part of 2023 as customers sought rate certainty and as Ulster Bank and KBC Bank continued their withdrawal from the Irish market.
Permanent TSB completed the acquisition of 25 Ulster Bank Branches and around 3,200 Ulster Bank SME loan accounts, valued at about €165m during the three month period.
The bank said its net interest income rose by 86% year-on-year; with gross interest income 95% higher due to organic loan book growth, the migration of Ulster Bank Mortgage and SME Assets and the changed interest rate environment.
It said that in line with management expectations, its operating expenses are about 18% higher than the same time last year.
The lender said it continues to maintain tight control over the administrative cost base, adding that key investment programmes, the acquisition of the Ulster Bank portfolios and inflationary pressures have caused the upward trend.
Meanwhile, its customer deposits of €22.3 billion at the end of March are €0.5 billion higher than the end of December, mainly due to a 4% increase in current account balances to €9.3 billion.
Permanent TSB said its total performing loan book of €19.5 billion at the end of the first quarter is about €0.3 billion higher than the total performing loan book at the end of December.
It said this was as a result of the Ulster Bank Micro-SME migration and new mortgage lending year-to-date exceeding repayments and redemptions.
Its asset quality remains strong with Non-Performing Loans of €0.7 billion at the end of March, in line with balances at the end of December last year, it added.
"While the global macroeconomic environment remains volatile, the Irish economy continues to record strong growth levels with no notable deterioration in the asset quality of the bank's loan book evident to date," the lender said.
Eamonn Crowley, the bank's chief executive, said the bank has a strong pipeline of activity across all of its key product lines.
"Although the global macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, the Irish economy continues to out-perform in terms of growth and employment levels," the CEO said.
Mr Crowley said the banki was looking forward to completing the migration of Ulster Bank assets in the coming months, with the remaining non-tracker mortgage portfolio and the Lombard asset finance business due to migrate shortly.
"Expanding our branch network to 98 branches nationwide, coupled with our €150m multi-year investment in digital services is evidence of our commitment to deliver the best combination of all our channels to support our customers' individual needs," he added.
Shares in the bank were higher in Dublin trade today.
