Company watch: PTSB could be on track to become storied third force of Irish banking

First-quarter results show new mortgage lending climbing 30 per cent as it hopes to buy a big bulk of Ulster Bank’s retail and SME business

Eamonn Crowley, chief executive, PTSB: the bank’s new mortgage lending has climbed 30 per cent in the year to €400 million

With Ireland’s cohort of retail banks set to shrink from five to three over the coming years, Permanent TSB has years of solid growth in its sights as it prepares to take on AIB and Bank of Ireland.

Judging by its first quarter results announced last week, it is doing a decent job of expanding its business already, perhaps partly due to the response of customers to recent announcements that Ulster Bank and KBC Ireland ...