Irish Life & Permanent reports €196m operating loss

The Irish banking group Irish Life & Permanent has recorded an operating loss of €196m for the year.

The group said that the main reason for the loss was the bank's operating loss of €270m which was put down to €376m for impaired loans in the Group’s mortgage and consumer finance divisions in Ireland and the UK.

Before making the provisions for these loans, permanent tsb bank recorded €106m in profits.

The Group’s life & pensions businesses, Irish Life, Irish Life Investment Managers, recorded a profit of €102m, down from €284m in 2008, which reflected the weaker market generally for life and pensions businesses.

Kevin Murphy described 2009 as a “difficult year” but said that the group was confident that the performance in 2010 would improve on the back of increased profitability in the life and pensions business – flowing from actions taken by the group in 2009.

Murphy expressed cautious optimism that 2010 would be a better year for the Irish economy generally and would see an improved performance in the life company in particular.

He said the group was predicting a return to profitability in 2011.