Ulster Bank lost £1 billion in 2012

THE Ulster Bank has announced losses of over £1bn for the whole of 2012.

The staggering figure comes as its parent company the Royal Bank of Scotland plunged deeper into the red after losing £5.2bn.

RBS described 2012 as a “chastening” year.

Ulster Bank Chief Executive Jim Brown said the bank is continuing the process of restructuring its business here.

“Operating loss increased by £56m year-on-year, primarily driven by a reduction in income as a result of a smaller balance sheet,” explained Mr Brown.

“Income decreased by 6 per cent year-on-year in constant currency terms, largely due to the high cost of deposit raising, coupled with lower interest-earning loan volumes.

“Impairment losses remained elevated, reflecting underlying credit metrics, new defaulting customers and deteriorating security values.”

The losses for 2012 were up 6% from the previous year.

The Ulster Bank has revealed that last yeae it paid out over £18m to almost 300,000 Northern Irish customers after a technical glitch left them without proper access to their bank accounts for weeks over the summer – these costs are not included in Thursday’s results.

The bank plans to close seven branches and four sub-offices in NI by this June.