NORTHERN BANK, Danske’s Northern Irish unit, made a loss of £7.5 million (€8.4 million) in the third quarter after setting aside £23 million to cover bad debts.
Gerry Mallon, chief executive of Northern Bank, said: “With the economy still in recession, the local climate undoubtedly remains challenging for consumers and for businesses. Given these conditions, we continue to make prudent provision for potential losses.”
The bank, which has 83 branches and 1,800 staff, made an operating profit of £15.5 million but fell into the red, despite a bad debt charge that was lower than each of the previous two quarters.
Total lending grew by 1 per cent, including mortgage growth of 11 per cent. Total income for the quarter was £51.7 million.
Danske’s share price fell 3.7 per cent in trading after posting higher than expected loan losses. Net income fell 47 per cent to 583 million Danish kroner (€78 million) as loan losses surged to DKr6.16 billion from DKr1.78 billion a year earlier.
