Permanent TSB ends two-year CFO search by picking internal candidate Nicola O’Brien

Permanent TSB (PTSB) has appointed internal candidate Nicola O’Brien as its chief financial officer (CFO), ending a drawn-out search for a permanent holder of a position that had been filled on an interim basis by three people over the past two years.

Ms O’Brien, currently head of finance and investor relations at PTSB, joined the bank in early 2017 following a four-year stint as a management consultant and, before that, almost 18 years with Bank of Ireland. She is the first woman to be appointed CFO of an Irish retail bank.

“Nicola’s strong business acumen and in-depth knowledge of Permanent TSB will be of huge value to the bank, particularly as we complete the acquisition of certain elements of the Ulster Bank business in the months ahead,” said Eamonn Crowley, group chief executive.

The appointment, which took immediate effect on Thursday, has also resulted in Ms O’Brien becoming a member of the bank’s executive committee and its board.

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Following Mr Crowley’s promotion in June 2020 from chief financial officer at PTSB to chief executive, the Dubliner continued to hold the finance role on an interim basis for a period. That September, PTSB hired then Grant Thornton partner Paul McCann as interim CFO. He held the position for a year, before becoming chief executive of Irish IT services company Ergo Group.

PTSB’s Declan Norgrove subsequently agreed to delay his planned retirement last year to step into the role on an interim basis, before Ms O’Brien’s appointment. It is understood that Mr Norgrove will leave the bank in the coming months.

Ms O’Brien takes on the role as PTSB, which has shrunk dramatically since receiving a €4 billion taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis, is poised to grow its loan book by close to 50 per cent as it takes over €6.8 billion of mortgages and small business loans from Ulster Bank, as the latter is being wound down.

PTSB now sees the deal and an expected series of European Central Bank rate rises, following an initial hike last month, pushing its operating profits to €300 million and delivering a profit return on shareholders equity of 10 per cent by the end middle of the decade. Operating profit at the bank averaged less than €80 million in the two years before the Covid-19 crisis.

Two years ago, analysts were forecasting that PTSB would deliver sub-par annual returns on equity of 2-3 per cent over the medium term, compared to a ratio of eight to 10 per cent that is seen as a sign of a healthy bank.