Northern Rock has reported that Irish savers deposited a further €181 million in 2002 with the British financial institution.

The bank, which offers a direct access service from the UK, has reported a more than 45 per cent increase in the number of Irish savings accounts from 15,000 to 20,000.

This equates to a €181 million increase in the amount of money deposited with the institution during 2002.

Northern Rock chief executive, Mr Adam Applegarth, said its total deposits for 2002 increased by €3 billion to €23.5 billion.

Of this, some €736 million was deposited by Irish customers, an increase of 33 per cent on the previous year.

The former building society began targeting Irish customers in 1999 offering a direct savings account which could be accessed by the phone or internet and by post.

It has since broadened the range of products to include investment bonds as well as deposit accounts.

The Newcastle-upon-Tyne-based group yesterday reported an 18 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to €501 million in the 12 months to the end of 2002.

The bank donates 5 per cent of its pre-tax profit to the Northern Rock Foundation to support community and charitable causes mainly in the north east of England.

For 2002 its charitable donation amounted to £16.3 million (€25 million).

The total amount of assets it has under management for customers rose by 34 per cent to €64.4 billion. This includes the acquisition of the banking operations of Legal & General over the year.

The bank reported continuing low costs and said it was confident of achieving its targets in 2003.

Its key cost-to-income ratio fell to 30.1 per cent.