PTSB income rises 7% as loan book grows ahead of Bawag sale

PTSB recorded a 7 per cent increase in income and lending grew ahead of a planned sale, according to a new trading update.

In April, Austrian financial group Bawag agreed to acquire Ireland’s third-largest domestic bank as part of a €1.6 billion deal.

The deal faces a possible delay as Axis Capital, a corporate advisory firm cofounded by former banker Mark Duffy, seeks to put together an 11th-hour rival bid.

In a trading update, PTSB chief executive Eamonn Crowley said the bank’s proposed sale to Bawag “is progressing as planned”.

He added the deal would likely complete in the final quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2027 “subject to court and regulatory approval”. A High Court hearing on the scheme of arrangement under which the deal is being executed is taking place this week.

The financial update from the bank, which covers the first nine months of the year, said total operating income rose 7 per cent in that period.

Net interest income, one of the bank’s main sources of revenue, rose by 9 per cent due to higher margins and a larger average volume of interest-earning assets.

Total operating costs were 2 per cent lower compared with the same period in 2025. The bank’s cost-to-income ratio at 70 per cent in the period, down from 77 per cent at the same point last year. It remains well above the typical retail bank target of about 50 per cent.

Total gross loans rose 4 per cent on an annual basis to €23.4 billion. At the end of September 2026, non-performing loans represented 1.3 per cent of gross loans, compared to 1.4 per cent at December 2025.

New mortgage lending rose 10 per cent in the period. Based on data from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, PTSB has roughly a 20 per cent share of the State’s mortgage market.

In the first nine months of the year, new business lending was up 16 per cent and the total volume of customer deposits held by PTSB rose to €25.8 billion, an increase of 2 per cent year on year.

Crowley said the latest results showed “strong momentum in the third quarter”.

“The bank’s strategy is delivering, with growth in our loan book running at over 4 per cent while our core mortgage business has gained momentum as the year has progressed.

“I am particularly pleased with the contribution coming from our business banking and personal lending segments which are both markets where we have huge potential.”

He added that the Irish economy “continues to perform well notwithstanding heightened global uncertainty and volatility”.

“Our funding and capital positions remain strong and put us in an excellent position to support further growth in economic output.”

Based on the latest set of results, the bank said it remains on track to achieve a return on tangible equity of more than 9 per cent this year.