DUBLIN, March 2 (Reuters) - Irish mortgage lender Permanent
TSB (PTSB), which is seeking to buy assets from NatWest
, reported a 2020 loss before tax of 166 million euros
($201 million) on Wednesday.
PTSB said last month that it was in early talks with NatWest
to buy some retail and small- and medium-size business assets,
liabilities and operations as the British lender winds down its
Ulster Bank business in the Irish Republic.
PTSB, 75% state-owned, would become Ireland's third largest
lender behind Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland
if it concludes the deal.
PTSB is in talks to acquire a "significant majority" of
Ulster's 14 billion euro mortgage book, around 700 million euros
of SME loans and some of its 88 branches, a source familiar with
the process told Reuters last month.
That would double PTSB's mortgage loan book and transform
its nascent SME business.
"We see it as being a way to be a significantly bigger and
stronger entity that can compete more vigorously in the market,"
CEO Eamonn Crowley told Newstalk Radio on Wednesday.
"It's going to take some time, we're talking about a very
complex transaction, it'll take weeks and months for us to bring
this to fruition."
PTSB set aside 155 million euros last year to "prudently"
cover likely loan losses arising from COVID-19 lockdowns,
although a strong second half limited a year-on-year drop in new
lending to 15% and not the 40-50% it feared last May.
While strong mortgage lending so far in 2021 followed a big
jump in applications from July to December, the bank cautioned
that the outlook remained uncertain.
Its fully loaded core Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 14.6% at
the end of last year.
($1 = 0.8270 euros)
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Jason Neely)
Natwest (NWG)
