Danske Bank UK financial Results H1 2025

Vicky Davies, CEO of Danske Bank UK, commented:

“I am pleased to report an operating profit of £119.6m for the first six months of 2025, with the Bank continuing to grow both in Northern Ireland and across the rest of the UK. Lending to customers has increased 7% year-on-year, while customer deposits have also risen, growing by 9%. Costs have increased year-on-year due to continued investment to improve customer experience and inflationary pressures.

“In Personal Banking we are working hard to ensure we are an attractive bank for youth customers as well as adult customers. In the first six months of the year we welcomed over 7,000 new personal current account customers to Danske Bank, and it is great to see that around 40% of them are under 18 years old. In terms of our youth proposition I’m also pleased to share that, against industry trends, in quarter two we increased interest rates right across our junior savings range, benefiting young savers.

“Mortgage lending approvals in Northern Ireland have increased by around 12% year-on-year. We expect a healthy level of mortgage lending to continue locally throughout 2025 - supported by our competitive product offering, a reducing interest rate environment, sustained levels of demand for housing and continued low unemployment rates. We are also growing our mortgage business in Great Britain, where, through broker networks, we have approved around £150m in mortgage lending in the first six months of the year.

“During the first half of the year we supported the Northern Ireland business community with over £550 million in business lending approvals. We welcomed around 900 new small business customers over this period, with many attracted by the two years’ fee-free banking that we are offering new-to-bank small businesses who open a Danske Bank small business digital account.

“We are seeing increased demand from larger business customers for sustainability-linked lending, and in quarter two we announced our biggest ever loan of this type. The £75m facility with Radius Housing sees the cost of debt linked to the customer's sustainability ambitions, including alignment with their objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy performance across their property estate. We are proud to support Radius Housing as they seek to build up to 500 new homes and refurbish and retrofit around 1,000 others from their existing stock.  

“The Bank has reinforced its commitment to the North West with the announcement that we will be establishing a new office at Ebrington Plaza in Derry-Londonderry. Around 40 colleagues will relocate from Shipquay Place in the city to this Grade A modern office space, which will become home to our regional Customer Protection Centre team and serve as a base when required for our local mortgage advisers, small business advisers and agribusiness managers. We expect to take up residency from November.

“Looking forward to the rest of the year, we will keep focused on helping customers, colleagues and society thrive - while continuing to play an integral role in supporting the local economy.”