Bank admits impairment charges will continue to rise

Danske Bank has said that impairment charges are likely to continue increasing at its Irish operations for the next two years and could reach €942m between now and the end of 2014.

In an outlook statement on its banking operations here, which have been trading as National Irish Bank (NIB), the Danish group said: “The Irish economy shows no prospect of material improvement over the next couple of years. The domestic property market remains weak, and the decline in property prices is expected to continue and result in additional impairment charges against the Irish loan book.”

It expects to recognise impairments in Ireland of between 5m-7m DKK (Danish Krone) between now and the end of 2014 (the top end of that scale equating to €942m) before levels “reach a normalised level” in 2015.