NIB set to target southern market

NATIONAL Irish Bank’s new chief executive, Andrew Healy, who is less than a week at the helm at the bank, said yesterday the bank is gearing up to play a challenging role in the Irish financial services sector.

Now owned by the Danish bank Danske, NIB aims to build a 10% stake in the Irish Republic over the next few years.

That was the kind of level it achieved in Norway after it took over one of the country’s smaller banks there. It held a 3% equity stake back in 1998 when Danske took it over and by end 2004 it was up at 10%.