More than 22,000 Irish savers had €820 million on deposit with British bank Northern Rock at the end of last month, the institution said yesterday.
The Newcastle-upon-Tyne-based bank reported that the number of its Irish savings accounts grew from 21,000 to 22,500 in the first six months of the year. Total balances in the Republic increased by €140 million to €820 million. On the basis of these figures, the average Irish deposit account held just over €36,400.
Northern Rock entered the Irish market four years ago and targeted the higher end of the market with savings products that paid a premium on standard deposit interest rates. It currently offers Irish savers between 1.85 per cent and 2.5 per cent per annum on minimum deposits of €1,000 for personal accounts and €10,000 for business accounts.
The one-time building society yesterday published interim results showing that in the six months to June 30th, deposit balances grew by €462 million to €22.6 billion.
Assets under management were €70 billion at the end of the first half of the year, up €18 billion on the end-June 2002 figure of €52 billion.
Total gross lending at the end of the first half was €11.3 billion, an increase of more than 30 per cent on the same period last year, when it stood at €8.4 billion. Total net lending grew by 11 per cent year-on-year from €5 billion to €5.6 billion.
Income for the first half grew from €378 million in June 2002 to €460 million this year. Pre-tax profits were up 22 per cent from €219.7 million to €269 million.
The bank reported a €10.5 million surplus on the sale of its credit card portfolio in May to the Co-operative Bank.
Northern Rock's cost-to-income ratio fell to 29.7 per cent from 30.8 per cent in June 2002.
Earnings per share in the first half were 46.2 cents, compared with 37 cents for the first half of 2002. The bank declared a dividend of 10.8 cents, payable in October.
Chief executive Mr Adam Applegarth described the results as encouraging.
"While we expect the UK housing market to slow further, our small size, large cost advantage, ability to generate gross lending and retain existing customers, all stand us in excellent shape," he said.
