After-tax losses down 43% at former ACC Bank

The former ACC Bank, which now trades as ACC Loan Management, has said after-tax losses fell by 43 per cent to €166 million in 2014 as against €290 million a year earlier.

Operating income for the year was €61.3 million compared to €73.5 million for 2013.

Total loans and advances to customers at the end of 2014, net of provisions, amounted to €2 billion ACC said, versus €2.6 billion the previous year.

ACC Loan Management recorded an impairment charge of €190 million last year, down from €324 million in 2013. The company said total provisions to date amount to €2.1 billion.

It said that as a result of a significant fall in bond yields towards the end of last year, the deficit in its defined benefit pensions fund rose to €20.7 million, compared to €13.7 million a year earlier.

The company said that at the end of December it has repossessed collateral of €46 million as against €2 million for 2013.

An interim dividend of €150 million was paid to ACC's parent Rabobank at the end of June, it said.

ACC Bank announced plans to withdraw from providing standard banking products, such as deposit accounts and current accounts and to focus solely on recovering its loans and advances in October 2013.

Last year it closed all its business centres to the public and returned its banking licence to the Central Bank of Ireland.

As part of the restructuring, the company changed its name to ACC Loan Management and cut about 180 jobs via a voluntary redundancy programme. It also outsourced management of around 10 per cent of its loans to Capita.

ACC said staff costs fell by €28 million in 2014 to €21 million last year, with salaries falling from €3.1 million to €2.4 million.

Salaries and other benefits for senior management and executives rose over the year from €1.2 million to €1.5 million.

The average number of people employed by the company now totals 365, compared to 468 a year earlier.