PROFITS at Ulster Bank’s parent group NatWest have increased by nearly £1 billion year-on-year, beating forecasts as the banking group benefited from higher borrowing costs and greater lending.
The bank, which saw the exit of boss Dame Alison Rose earlier this week, said its pre-tax operating profit leaped to £3.6bn in the half-year to the end of June, up from £2.6bn the same time last year.
Analysts had been expecting a lower profit of £3.3bn for the latest half-year.
But the bank said it expects higher interest rates to be largely offset by savings rates and mortgage income reductions through the second half of the year.
The lender, which is backed by the taxpayer, has benefited from higher interest rates, which has pushed up the cost of borrowing, and greater mortgage lending.
But the financial results come at a time of volatility for the group, with chief executive Dame Alison Rose resigning in the early hours of Wednesday after admitting to being the source of an incorrect BBC report on Mr Farage's finances.
The boss of Coutts, the bank which shut down Mr Farage's account and is owned by NatWest, also stepped down on Thursday.
Read more:
- NatWest begins legal process of transferring Ulster Bank business to London
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- Ulster Bank parent NatWest to face scrutiny after bosses ousted over Farage bank account row
Senior bosses of the group are set to face the scrutiny of shareholders and journalists on Friday morning.
Ulster Bank no longer reports standalone financial results after it was absorbed into the larger NatWest Group in 2021.
The legal transfer of Ulster Bank’s Northern Ireland business to NatWest in London effectively put an end to its existence as a meaningful entity in its own right.
Ulster Bank has been part of NatWest since 1968, when Westminster Bank, Ulster Bank’s owner since 1917, merged with National Provincial Bank to create a new merged entity.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) became its new parent owner after it acquired NatWest in 2000.
RBS decided to rebrand as NatWest in July 2020.
Ulster Bank’s business on the island of Ireland was split into separate operations in the north and south during 2015.
NatWest announced its decision to withdraw from the Republic in 2021. All Ulster Bank branches across the border closed in April 2023.
The withdrawal has resulted in significant job losses in Northern Ireland, with the Financial Services Union expecting 250 jobs to go in 2023.
The jobs affected are largely Belfast-based support roles for the Ulster Bank operation in the Republic.
In the half-year results published on Friday, NatWest reported a £295m loss for the Ulster Bank business in the Republic.
However, Ulster Bank’s Republic of Ireland business paid an €800m dividend to its UK parent in June.
