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# NIB
National Irish reports €401m pre-tax loss for first half of 2012
Funds set aside for loan impairment charges account for €391m of the loss.
NATIONAL IRISH BANK is reporting a pre-tax loss of €401 million for the first half of the year and says its income fell 6 per cent to €64 million.
The loan book was down 9 per cent to €8.3 billion on the same period of 2011, while customer deposits were down by more than a third.
The bank, part of the Danish Danske Bank Group, says costs were pushed up 53 per cent to €74m by a one-off provisions for expenses associated with the reorganisation of its retail business, which was announced in June.
In late June, the bank announced it would cut around 100 jobs and close 27 branches. It also said it was moving retail operations to a seven-day-a-week centralised call centre.
NIB set €391 million aside for loan impairment charges, which make up the bulk of the bank’s reported losses.
The bank reports €3 billion in commercial property loans for H1 and says that most of its impairment charges relate to this portfolio. However, it says that the quality of its 3.2 billion mortgage book remains “satisfactory”.
Meanwhile, Danske Bank Group is reporting pre-tax profits of €550 million for the six months to the end of June – a 15 per cent increase on last year.
