Banks report losses of over €1bn

Two foreign-owned Irish banks have reported losses between them of over €1bn during 2011, according to accounts released yesterday by KBC and NIB banks.

National Irish Bank, which is owned by Danske Bank, said its pre-tax losses for 2011 came to €805m as it set aside €850m for loan impairment charges.

The Danish-owned bank had reported pre-tax losses in 2010 in Ireland of €618m, when it set aside €667m for bad debts.