Ulster Bank sees modest pick-up

ULSTER Bank which has cut over 700 jobs from its total Irish operations has reported a modest pick-up in trading for the first quarter of the current year.

In the three months ended March 31, 2010, the group made operating profits before bad debt charges of Stg£81 million (€93.6m) up from £73m in the same period last year.

Impairment losses were substantial at £218m (€252m), but that figure was well down on the £348m incurred in quarter one of 2009.

Post its bad debt charges, the group, which last year transferred almost £17bn in bad loans to its parent RBS from the Irish operations, suffered an operating loss of £137m against £275m in the first quarter of 2010.

Group chief executive Cormac McCarthy said the results show market conditions “remain extremely challenging” for the group.

The increase in operating profit before impairment losses shows the significant actions taken by the bank over the last 18 months “are having a positive impact”.

“We understand that the needs of both our personal and business customers have changed and we have responded by providing a number of support initiatives which are designed to address the challenges they are facing.

Its new products, including MoneySense, Flex and Breathing Space “offer practical solutions to our customers who are experiencing financial difficulties”.

Allowing for the tough environment across the island, McCarthy said the bank continues to see potential for growth.

“We remain committed to serving the needs of our 1.9 million customers across the island of Ireland,” he said.

Ulster Bank lent huge sums during the boom but is not implicated in NAMA as it is foreign-owned.

In Britain its parent, RBS, now in state hands, reported operating profits of £713m for the quarter.

Stephen Hester, group chief executive, said the year has begun for RBS broadly as expected.

The group remains “conscious of the economic imbalances still to be tackled globally and of the risk of specific events (such as those affecting Greece), with the associated danger of contagion.”

The global recovery “is helping impairments fall a little faster than we expected, though lumpy events may well interrupt that trend”, he said.