Business

Ulster Bank makes more than £1 million a day, figures show

Ulster Bank in Ireland has made profits of £245 million so far this year
Ulster Bank in Ireland has made profits of £245 million so far this year Ulster Bank in Ireland has made profits of £245 million so far this year

TAXPAYER-backed Ulster Bank has made more than £1 million profit on every single working day of 2015 so far, figures revealed yesterday.

The north's biggest bank, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, reported an operating profit of £114 million during July, August and September across its all-Ireland operations.

It takes its profit in the calendar year to date to £245 million - that's the equivalent of £1.3 million for every day it opened.

Ulster Bank's total third quarter income, at £214 million, was £38 million better than the previous three months while it operating expenses, at £158m, were up only slight on quarter two (£150m).

It comes as parent RBS revealed a sharp fall in third-quarter profits. Pre-tax profit before one-time items and restructuring costs at group level came in at £842 million for the quarter, compared to £2.05 billion a year earlier.

Ulster Bank's interim chief executive Paul Stanley said: "Our third quarter operating profit of £114m (€157m) is underpinned by stronger new business volumes, profit on the sale of a buy-to-let portfolio in the Republic of Ireland and a gain realised on the simplification of our corporate structure.

"This performance is impacted by trends of customer deleveraging and an increasingly competitive market, while our sterling-reported results are impacted by a weakened euro.

"Results have also benefited from a further release of impairment provisions, though at lower levels than in some previous quarters (£58m in Q3 against £52m in Q2).

“Mortgage drawdowns have increased by 48 per cent in the year to date, reflecting Ulster Bank’s competitive rates and new offerings for new and existing customers. SME and corporate new lending has increased by 51 per cent this year, with particularly strong pipelines on asset financing, agri and start-ups, including internationally-focused companies."

Since the end of quarter three on September 30, the bank says it has "progressed" with its customer-focused project to align Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland more closely with the rest of RBS in the UK, while maintaining the Ulster Bank brand.

"As a consequence of this, Northern Ireland will be part of wider RBS figures for quarterly financial reporting from end of year 2015,” Mr Stanley added.

At group level, RBS announced the sale of its final 20.9 per cent stake in US bank Citizens worth £1.1 billion.

The bank, which is 73 per cent owner by the taxpayer, revealed litigation costs of £129 million for the quarter, principally relating to mortgage-backed securities.

In July the government began the process of privatising RBS by selling a £2.1 billion stake in the bank - at a loss of more than £1 billion to the taxpayer.

Ulster Bank's quarterlies follow those of Danske Bank earlier this week. In Northern Ireland it has made profits of £107m in the first nine months of 2015.