Ulster Bank in safe hands, insists chief executive
Ulster’s parent, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), yesterday reported the biggest annual loss in British corporate history, with losses for last year amounting to a staggering £24.1 billion (e27bn).
It said it would be restructuring its business by dividing subsidiaries into core and non-core assets, with most of the latter likely to be sold off.
It confirmed Ulster Bank would remain a core part of the overall group and would not be sold. In addition, no further job cuts — on top of the 550 linked with the closure of the First Active division — are expected in the Republic.
“Our results basically illustrate the world we’re living in at present. The numbers are what they are, but we have the support of RBS, which in turn has the support of the British government,” Mr McCarthy said.
The British government currently controls around 70% of the RBS group and, although it is hoped that full nationalisation is avoided, it is possible that the stake could increase to 95%.
On the positive side, Ulster Bank did see an increase in customer deposits last year, rising by 12% to e25.5bn. Lending to customers also rose by 33% to e63.2bn and the number of new high-street customers totalled 119,000, coming via a mix of new student customers and people switching from other banks.
Ulster has increased its impairment losses (money set aside to cover bad loans) to £394m (e442.7m). As much as £326m of this relates to the corporate loan book, while the remaining £68m covers retail banking loans unlikely to be repaid.
Meanwhile, British Chancellor Alistair Darling has called on former RBS chief Fred Goodwin to surrender his £650,000 pension.
