PTSB to submit new plan to Commission soon

State-controlled Permanent TSB will submit an updated version of its restructuring plan to the European Commission "shortly", the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has informed Sinn Féin's finance spokesman Pearse Doherty.

This follows the completion of the pan-European comprehensive assessments by the European Central Bank, which showed that PTSB, which is 99.2 per cent owned by the State, has a capital shortfall of just under €855 million.

"The Permanent TSB restructuring plan submitted in autumn 2013 is now outdated and is in the process of being updated for both recent positive financial and operational performance in 2014 and the results of the comprehensive assessment," Mr Noonan told Mr Doherty in a written answer to a question submitted by the Sinn Fein deputy recently.

“My officials have been in discussions with the European Commission over recent weeks and they expect Permanent TSB to formally lodge an updated restructuring plan shortly.”

Separately, Mr Noonan confirmed that PTSB would submit its capital-raising plan to the ECB by November 9th, detailing its proposals to meet the funding shortfall that arose from the adverse stress test scenario of the comprehensive assessments.

This is expected to include raising funding from external investors, with Deutsche Bank and Davy both engaged to advise PTSB on this process.

Unlike Bank of Ireland and AIB, which also received financial assistance from the State, PTSB has yet to receive the green light from the European Commission for its restructuring plan, which has undergone a number of iterations since its bailout in 2011.

Mr Noonan said PTSB has made “significant progress” in delivering key elements of the plan submitted over the past year. “Permanent TSB has made steady progress on returning to operating profitability, has significantly de-risked its balance sheet through a sale of a tranche of its UK mortgage portfolio and the sale of Springboard Mortgages and has reduced 90-day plus mortgage arrears by circa 25 per cent year-to-date,” the minister said.

“The current strategy is for Permanent TSB to be an independent bank, competing within targeted segments of the retail banking market, and I will continue to support the board and management in the delivery of that strategy.”