Royal Bank of Scotland (RBOS) has said Ulster Bank's profits rose 32 per cent to £468 million sterling in 2004 on the back of strong mortgage lending growth and the acquisition of First Active.
The RBOS group's pre-tax profit excluding goodwill and integration costs for 2004 rose 15 per cent to £8.10 billion, boosted by acquisitions and revenue growth across its businesses. Total income rose 18 per cent to £22.75 billion.
Britain's second-largest bank made its biggest US buy in September, acquiring Midwest lender Charter One for $10.5 billion.
The group's chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, said: "Another big acquisition is not featuring in our thinking at the moment In the near term the focus is on completing the one (acquisition) we have done and taking advantage of the organic growth opportunity."
The bank said credit quality was strong and that the bad-debt charge rose 1 per cent to £1.51 billion, towards the low end of expectations.
The full-year dividend rose 15 per cent to 58 pence a share.