A Permanent problem

Permanent TSB is just one economic wobble, one external economic shock – however mild – away from returning to the intensive care ward

PTSB is unlikely to merge with another retail bank any time soon, says its chief executive

Why do we so often fail to face up to reality?

Permanent TSB is, by the standards of high street financial institutions, tiny. It announced its results last week. It has a stock market value of €1.2 billion: that’s less than one tenth of AIB’s and one sixth of Bank of Ireland’s. Admittedly AIB’s capital base is made up even more substantially than PTSB’s of taxpayers’ money. But nearly a decade on from ...