PTSB, which is in the middle of cutting jobs, said plans to have lower running costs and a stable net interest margin in three years, after its pretax profit doubled in 2024.
The smallest of the three remaining Irish retail banks said its pretax profit jumped to €159 million, as its fees and commissions rose, it released €39 million of loan loss provisions and its one-off charges declined by almost two-thirds to €21 million.
Net interest income fell to €612 million from €620 million as official interest rates declined, it said in a statement on Tuesday. PTSB has a much smaller level of excess deposits earnings interest at the Central Bank of Ireland than its larger domestic rivals Bank of Ireland and AIB.
Underlying pretax profits rose 8 per cent to €180 million.
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PTSB said that its plan to lower the perceived riskiness of its mortgage book – or lower its risk weighted assets – with the approval of regulators is progressing and that it plans to make a submission on the matter to the Central Bank by the end of June. Analysts see this freeing up as much as €270 million of expensive capital reserves on PTSB’s balance sheet.
Chief executive Eamonn Crowley also outlined new financial targets running out to 2027, including having a net interest margin of 2.2 per cent, in line with last year’s out-turn but down from 2.3 per cent in 2023, lowering operating costs to €500 million and delivering a return on tangible equity of 9 per cent.
The bank’s running costs rose 5 per cent last year to €531 million. However, it confirmed last month that it is cutting about 300 jobs – or almost 9 per cent of its 3,359 staff at the end of December.
The bank’s return on tangible equity – a key measure of profitability – was 7.5 per cent last year. Analysts see a figure between 8 and 10 per cent as a sign of a healthy bank.
The bank’s share of new mortgage lending rose to 20.2 per cent in the third quarter, compared to 13.4 per cent for the same period last year, it introduced a more competitive offering.
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We are seeing continued organic growth in our balance sheet as our brand resonates in the market and attracts new customers to the bank,” said Mr Crowley. “Our deposits have increased by almost €1.2 billion, our new SME lending has increased by 28 per cent, and our share of the new mortgage lending market grew to 20.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024.”
PTSB last week promoted its chief risk officer, Barry D’Arcy, to the position of chief financial officer.
Mr D’Arcy joined the bank in October 2023, having previously served as chief risks officer at KBC Bank Ireland. He also previously held a number of senior management positions at the former Belgian-owned bank, including head of finance and head of credit and asset and liability management risk.
KBC Bank Ireland returned its banking licence to the Central Bank last April, having sold off most of its assets after being put into winddown three years earlier.
Mr D’Arcy succeeds Nicola O’Brien, who handed in her notice last August to join UK online bank Monzo in a senior role as it seeks to secure an Irish banking licence to access the wider EU market.
