Company Watch: PTSB’s Ulster Bank deal gives it one last chance to become a major player

The acquisition could bring the bank’s share of the mortgage market up to 23 per cent, while giving it greater access to the SME and broader business sectors

Eamonn Crowley, chief executive at Permanent TSB, was keen to reiterate just how important the proposed acquisition is. Picture Andres Poveda

Permanent TSB’s pursuit of €7.6 billion worth of Ulster Bank loans represents a one-time-only opportunity for the bank to transform itself from an Irish banking also-ran to a genuine competitor to AIB and Bank of Ireland.

Eamonn Crowley, its chief executive, is well aware of that fact, and did little to hide it last week. Speaking separately to analysts and reporters as PTSB announced a €5 million net loss for the first six months of ...