'No-deal Brexit is biggest threat to Northern Ireland in a generation,' says top bank

Edmund Heaphy
·Finance and news reporter
Danske Bank provides around 20% of all mortgages in Northern Ireland. Pic: Reuters
Danske Bank provides around 20% of all mortgages in Northern Ireland. Pic: Reuters

A no-deal Brexit is the biggest risk the Northern Ireland economy has faced in a generation, Dankse Bank UK CEO Kevin Kingston said Friday.

Dankse Bank is one of the big four banks in Northern Ireland, and provides around 20% of mortgages there.

In a stark warning, Kingston said the smaller businesses that form the “lifeblood of the economy in Northern Ireland” are “far less prepared” for a no-deal scenario and thus the “most vulnerable.”

He noted that his bank was well-placed to understand the risks facing Northern Irish businesses.

“We have engaged on an individual basis with many of these business customers in recent months to help them plan,” Kingston said.

“At this point, I am gravely concerned about the challenges ahead should a hard Brexit become a reality.”

In recent days, business leaders in Northern Ireland have begun to issue increasingly strident warnings about the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit.

READ MORE: Irish business groups warn against “devastating” consequences of no-deal Brexit

Two leading Irish business organisations warned last month of the “devastating economic consequences” of such a scenario.

The Confederation of British Industry said that, by 2034, a no-deal Brexit could dent Northern Ireland’s economy by almost £5bn each year.

After MPs passed an amendment that calls for the Northern Ireland backstop to be replaced by unspecified “alternative arrangements,” the CEO of Manufacturing Northern Ireland, Stephen Kelly, said that the firms he represents are “partly in despair” and “really confused” about what’s going on.

Kingston said that a no-deal Brexit would “inevitably” have an impact on consumers and the “financial affairs of people on the street.”

Danske Bank UK on Friday announced an operating profit of £92m for 2018, down 22% on 2017’s £118m. In 2017, the bank had benefitted substantially from the sale of its wealth division and from changes to its staff pension scheme.

“A profit fall in 2018 was expected, despite improved income growth,” it said in a statement.

Known as Northern Bank before it was acquired by the Denmark-based Danske Bank Group (DANSKE.CO) in 2004, Danske Bank UK operates over 40 branches in Northern Ireland.