Northern Rock loses £232m

Nationalised UK lender Northern Rock said today it was paying staff £13.1m (€15.2m) in bonuses for 2010 despite posting a multimillion-pound loss for the year.

Most of the bank’s 4,500 staff, who on average earn £25,000 a year, will receive a payout of around 10% of their salary. Executive chairman Ron Sandler, who is paid £250,000 a year, is not eligible for a 2010 bonus.

The payout came as Northern Rock recorded pre-tax losses of £232.4m in 2010, but narrowed losses in the second half of the year to £92.4m, compared to £140m in the first six months.

The bank said it continued to work closely with UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body charged with overseeing the Government’s banking assets, to return the company to private ownership.

Northern Rock was nationalised in February 2008 after it collapsed amid the credit crisis, sparking the first run on a UK bank for 150 years.