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DANSKE BANK, WHICH owns National Irish Bank, is to rebrand its Irish arm under the group name.
The Danish institution said the rebrand is a signal of its commitment to the Irish market and will take effect by the end of this year.
The group also announced a reorganisation of its operations from 1 June, which will see a new arm established to wind down its commercial and property loan portfolio.
The transfer of such loans, which have high impairment charges, will take place by the 1 January next year. The bank has suffered immensely from the property crash and has a legacy of bad loans on its books.
The bank said the new structure will allow it to concentrate on corporate and private banking.
“We want to focus on our core business in Ireland,” says Eivind Kolding, chairman of the Executive Board of Danske Bank. “Danske Bank has considered alternative options and decided that this solution is the best in terms of creating value. With these initiatives, we also confirm our commitment to Ireland.”
Following the restructure, Andrew Healy has announced his resignation from National Irish Bank after seven years in the top job. In a statement this morning, he said:
Together we have restored our Bank’s reputation and come out the other side of the most difficult period in Ireland’s banking history. I couldn’t have asked for better colleagues and it is after a lot of thought and with some sadness that I leave. However, I have some personal ambitions which I would like to follow and I am very excited by the opportunities that lie ahead.
Separately, National Irish Bank released its first quarter results today, announcing an increased operating profit of €11 million.
It set aside €195 million for loan impairment charges as further falls in residential and commercial property prices continued to hurt the loan portfolio. Healy said the level of charge, although still high, was lower than the previous quarter.
He added that the performance was in line with expectations as economic conditions remain challenging.
The Danske Bank Group announced a profit before tax and impairment charges of €740 million, a rise of 27 per cent on last year’s figure. However, loan impairment charges at the group amounted to €527 million.
The bank is in a healthy position in terms of capital with a 16 per cent Tier 1 capital ratio.
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They are animals to deal with very aggressive I wish them nothing but bad luck
Who, Danske? Couldn’t be much worse than our natives?
What a waste of money rebranding, in England the Post Office spent millions rebranding to Consignia, no one understood what it meant, created difficulty for foreigners and went back to Post Office. Wasted money on rebranding could be put to better use.
its a private company, they can do what they want with their money
Still have to answer to shareholders and have responsibility to workers. (wasted money means less dividends and less jobs). There are loads of reasons why resources should not be wasted but as you righty point out they can do what they like with there money. The illustration I gave tried to demonstrate that rebranding is often a waste or resource.
Suppose Ill have to learn Danish now.
All you need to know is “tage din lån og proppe den op i røven på dig” that should just about cover negotiations :)
wonder will they pay the danish min.wage or ours?
Ireland to be rebranded West Germany
you realise its a Danish bank yeah?
Will we ger a bank of deutschland or an allied Deutchland bank?
You cant change a leopard skin…fullstop
”The bank said the new structure will allow it to concentrate on corporate and private banking”
Just goes to show how big business is for private and corporate banking is ….”Europe’s ”HighNet Worth Individuals” possessed more than €7.5 TRILLION in 2011 .Corporations continue to make massive profits …..
They relocated our account to Dundalk, then closed that branch and transferred us again, to Drogheda. They closed the ATM in Dundalk town centre, then the one at the petrol station at Ballymascanlan. The Dorgheda branch is on the second or thid floor of an otherwise empty ‘landmark’ (it means ugly and intrusive) tower. It is cashless. A bank with no money in it.
Now they are going to do away with our cheque book and try to charge us for every transaction we make using our money with an ATM or debit card. I don’t think so.
Still they are no worse than all the other speculating, gambling, rip-off bastard banks. Their get rich quick scheme didn’t work! Where do we move our account to now?
When i first read it i thought its said deutsche bank
sinead, can u clarify if the winding down of property loans mentioned applies to mortgages or is it just commercial property loans?
have your say