Permanent TSB lost €166 million before tax last year, newly released figures show.
The bank said that total new lending for 2020 fell 15 per cent to €1.4 billion as Covid-19 hit its business. New home loans were €1.3 billion last year, 14 per cent lower than in 2019.
However, Permanent TSB noted that home loans jumped 43 per cent from the first to the second half of the year. Its share of new mortgages in the Republic was 15.3 per cent.
Non-performing loans, where borrowers have fallen seriously in arrears with their repayments, were €1.1 billion in 2020, an increase of €80 million on 2019.
Permanent TSB agreed Covid-19 mortgage payment breaks last year with 10,700 customers, who owed a total of €1.6 billion, 10 per cent of its loans. By the end of 2020, 99 per cent of these breaks had expired.
The lender announced plans to cut costs in November, including 300 voluntary redundancies and a review of its properties. The overall programme left it with a once-off charge of €31 million last year.
Permanent TSB is in talks with Ulster Bank’s parent, NatWest, about taking over some of its rival’s mortgage business, branches and small business loans when that lender closes its operation in the Republic.
Eamonn Crowley, chief executive, acknowledged that 2020 was loss-making, but said the bank had boosted new lending and transactions in the second half of the year.
The bank warned that economic recovery depended on the Government’s vaccination programme and the overall suppression of Covid-19.
