National Irish Bank (NIB) returned to profit in the third quarter, making a pre-tax profit of €13 million over the three months to September.
The bank, which was bought by Denmark's Danske Bank in December 2004, said that lending volumes increased by 54 per cent to €6.3 billion in the nine months to September, compared with the same period last year. It said mortgage volumes were also 54 per cent up.
NIB said it had €2.6 billion on customer deposit accounts, and that this sector was increasing at an underlying rate of 24 per cent. The bank said that to date, it has seen an almost 100 per cent retention of maturing SSIA funds.
NIB has 59 branches with 700 employees and said it plans to open 15 new branches over the next three years, as part of a €20m investment in its branch network.
During the first nine months of the year, NIB made a pre-tax loss of €4.3 million. According to the bank this reflects investment costs in training and the introduction of new products.
Danske Bank paid $1.78 billion (10.4 billion Danish crowns) for Northern Bank in Northern Ireland and National Irish Bank.