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UPDATED 5.12pm
ULSTER BANK WILL look to further cut costs despite registering a profit of €486 million over the past three months.
But after speculation the bank’s UK parent company the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) would sell off its Irish operations to a private-equity firm, it was today officially confirmed the bank was staying in the hands of its government-run owner.
RBS confirmed Ulster Bank would remain a “core part” of its operations as it told investors the subsidiary bank, which operates about 200 branches and offices across the island of Ireland, offered a “good strategic fit” with its retail and commercial operations.
“We have a good market position and believe that Ulster Bank can deliver attractive returns, with appropriate investment,” RBS said.
Ulster Bank recently went on a cost-cutting drive and has closed up to 40 branches and sub-offices as it tried to cement profits.
In its management statement, RBS said it was still focussed on “implementing cost-saving initiatives” in the Irish lender.
Ulster Bank recorded an operating profit of £394 million (€486 million) over the past three months, up from only £46 million for the previous quarter.
Rising property prices are helping the bank
RBS said the performance was mostly because the value of its assets and loans had increased due to rising Irish property prices and “proactive debt management”.
Ulster Bank has been busy offloading bad loans, including a €1.7 billion-odd portfolio linked to 315 Irish and UK properties.
The bank’s total income for the three months was £214 million (€272 million) and its operating expenses were £150 million (€191 million), with the rest of the profit coming from the boost to its asset values.
Chief executive Ross McEwan said both the UK and Ireland were showing signs of growth and its balance sheets were looking “significantly better” than expected at the start of the year.
But we know we still have a long list of conduct and litigation issues to deal with and much, much more to do to restore our customers’ trust in us,” he said.
RBS has been hit with a £4 billion lawsuit in the UK from disgruntled investors who claim it hid its perilous financial state before the government’s 2008 bailout.
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Super news for Cork. Along with the 300 other jobs for Cork announced previously. It’s great to have these companies establish all around Ireland, not just in Dublin, Leinster. Also shows how fast competitiveness can be regained in a few years.
Quite a comeback considering the knock they took in 2008 – fair play to the last few holdouts in Tyco Cork who clearly kept the door open until opportunity knocked.
Excellent news for Cork..
500 hundred more jobs for Cork, 200 at the Tindell instutute,another 200 in The ex Pfizer plant in Ringskiddy makes 900 total, looks like a very good week indeed for the Rebel County.
What part of good news do some of you not understand? If it bring one family in Cork out of the dole queue it’s good news. Simple!
Thanks Enda :)
Enda has nothing to do with this. Governments don’t create jobs. Neither do businesses. Consumers do.
Enda creates the environment and the stability to attract these jobs, therefore it is everything got to do with our greatest ever leader :)
Enda leaves money under your pillow when you lose a tooth as well
Does anyone ever go back a few months/years after these big announcements and see/report how many jobs were actually created?
Genuine question. Talk is easy, and talk of x hundred jobs means very little till there are bums on seats. But it gets great publicity, for the company as well as the relevant happy minister.
It’s great news but the tax raised by these jobs + corporate tax will be cancelled quickly by the 2,000 extra jobs required by Irish water.
There are no “extra” jobs in Irish water. These people are alredy working for the various local authorities around the country and are being transferred to Irish Water.
Half of them work for local authority half are employed !!
Ever the opportunity to see a glass half empty!
Pathetic Gary.
How many of those rolls will be allocated to jobs bridge
Do you mean breakfast rolls Kev?
Bitter Kevy?
It’s a relevant question
Stand by for the political photo opportunity
Or standby for people finding out about TYCO. You couldn’t make it up
Coupled with the resounding success of job bridge for all non lazy people, and the endless new jobs created the whinging class of nobodies are fast running out if excuses for their lazy useless ways
I sympathize with you. It is a struggle to post opinions when you have a limited vocabulary (…for all non lazy people) and limited cognitive function.
It was announced today that Tyco will be purchased by Johnson Controls, a company that pays its CEO 21 million dollars per year.
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