Avant profit rises in first quarter as Irish loans grow 23 per cent

Avant Money, the Irish unit of Spanish banking group Bankinter, saw its first-quarter pretax profit rise 12 per cent as its loans grew at pace, driven by mortgages.

The division’s profit for the period advanced to €12 million from the same period last year, Bankinter said in an investor presentation as it reported its latest quarterly earnings.

Net interest income advanced 22 per cent to €33 million as 23 per cent growth in the loan book, to €5 billion, more than offset the impact of declining interest rates during the period.

The lender had already reached the €5 billion milestone at the end of December. Its mortgage book stood at €4 billion at the end of March, while its consumer credit portfolio amounted to €1 billion.

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Avant’s operating costs crept 15 per cent higher to €15 million, while its cost-to-income ratio stood at 45 per cent – compared with 35.4 per cent for the wider group.

The wider Bankinter group’s pretax profit rose 8 per cent on the year to €410 million.

Avant officially launched a deposit offering in February, months after carrying out a soft launch of savings products.

[ Avant Money unveils series of improvements to its mortgage offeringOpens in new window ]

The company, led by chief executive Niall Corbett, became a branch of Madrid-headquartered Bankinter 12 months ago, allowing it to venture into deposit gathering with the benefit of the group’s Spanish licence.

Bankinter has previously said it expected the Irish loan book would be almost fully funded by local deposits within eight years of the launch of savings products.

Irish households had more than €174 billion on deposit with banks at the end of February, according to Central Bank data. However, about 85 per cent of this money is in current and on-demand deposit accounts, earning little or nothing in interest.

Still, competition for deposits is expected to increase in 2026, with money market traders expecting that official European Central Bank interest rates will start rising again this year – as early as June. The Government is also planning to launch personal savings accounts for retail investors next year, which is expected to have an impact on deposits held in banks.

MoCo, the Irish unit of Austrian bank Bawag, launched a new easy-access savings account in October, widening its product base beyond mortgages.

UK digital banking group Monzo launched in the Republic last week with savings and current accounts for consumers and businesses.