Avant Money’s loan book grew by 20 per cent to €4.4 billion in the 12 months to the end of September, driven by mortgage lending, according to its Spanish parent, Bankinter.
The Irish company’s mortgage book expanded by 23 per cent to €3.4 billion, Bankinter said in an investor presentation as it reported quarterly figures. The portfolio was flat on the quarter. Its consumer portfolio grew by 11 per cent to €1 billion, year-on-year.
The figures mark a return to quarterly loan growth, following a flat performance between the ends of March and June.
Avant, led by chief executive Niall Corbett, officially become a branch of Bankinter in April.
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The Irish Times reported last week that the company had commenced a “soft launch” of deposits with a small number of existing customers in advance of the formal roll-out of its savings offering next month.
Participants in the phased pilot programme are being offered a six-month fixed-term deposit product, carrying an annualised rate of 2.6 per cent, according to sources.
[ Avant Money offers savers market-leading rate of 2.6% in ‘soft launch’Opens in new window ]
Avant posted a 16 per cent increase in net interest income, to €85 million, in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period in 2024, according to Bankinter. Its pretax profit jumped 17 per cent to €34 million.
Bankinter, the fifth-largest Spanish bank, entered the Republic in 2019 through the acquisition of Avantcard, a credit card and consumer finance business, from US investment group Apollo.
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The Irish business was subsequently renamed Avant Money and moved into mortgages in late 2020 with headline rates that undercut the cheapest home loans available at the time in the market.
Speaking on a call with analysts on Thursday, Bankinter chief executive Gloria Oritz dismissed suggestions in a media opinion piece over the weekend that the bank could take over PTSB, the smallest of the three remaining Irish domestic banks.
“We have always grown organically in the different businesses and geographies where we have the capabilities,” she said. “This is what we are doing in Ireland – and this is what we will continue to do in the future.”
Goodbody Stockbrokers analyst Denis McGoldrick said that Avant’s “positive update” bodes well for the Irish banks as they prepare to issue trading updates over the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the Bankinter group trimmed its forecast slightly for financial margins in 2025 after third-quarter lending income remained under pressure after the European Central Bank (ECB) cut official rates a number of times this year.
Bankinter’s chief financial officer, Jacobo Diaz, told analysts the bank expected “a slight slippage” in its previous guidance that net interest income would be flat this year. Still, this will be offset by stronger fee growth.
