THE north's biggest bank Danske made a pre-tax profit of £2 million a week in 2022, its full-year accounts show.
It reported that profits rose from £63.3 million in 2021 to £103.3 million last year.
This came as overall incomes at the bank rose to £271.5 million from £198.2m previously.
And while it had £5.7 billion of loans out at the end it the year, Danske is currently sitting on deposits of £10.6 billion.
“I'm pleased these 2022 financial results, as a strong financial performance means we are well positioned to continue to support customers through the current challenging economic conditions,” the bank's chief executive Vicky Davies said.
Danske says its much improved year-on-year profitability has been driven by increased transactional activity and higher UK interest rates, while its impairment levels remain low.
Over the year it loaned more than £850 million to businesses and approved £590 million in mortgage lending to local people and families.
“Transaction levels in the housing market remained at healthy levels in the first half of 2022, but there was a slowing of activity in the latter months of the year,” Ms Davies said.
“We provided over £590 million of mortgage lending approvals in Northern Ireland, with 97 per cent of these customers opting for a fixed rate mortgage product and 70 per cent of them choosing a five-year fix.
“We expect the local mortgage market to slow in 2023, but given the relatively limited supply of housing in Northern Ireland, versus other parts of the UK, we believe demand will remain at sustained, albeit reduced, levels.”
The CEO said the labour market remains strong at present, so Danske was not seeing any notable increase in customer distress regarding mortgage repayments.
“Levels of distress may change, and we are well prepared to support customers when they need us,” she said.
Ms Davies added: “With overall annual economic output in Northern Ireland expected to fall this year, our primary focus will remain on being there to support customers, the community and the wider economy.”
Coinciding with the publication of the results, Danske said it was creating a £35 million agri sustainability fund to encourage and support agri-business customers who want to introduce new more sustainable technologies into their working practices.
