Titters at PTSB meeting but bank’s problems no laughing matter

The crowd was smaller than previous years but the anger from Permanent TSB shareholders was palpable at its annual general meeting in Ballsbridge on Wednesday.

Chairman Alan Cook tried to draw their sting early by apologising for the manner in which the State-controlled bank failed 1,372 customers by denying them a tracker mortgage between 2006 and 2011.

This cut little ice with his audience. Independent financial adviser Brendan Burgess was first to his feet to accuse the bank of "trickery" and of "fleecing" customers with its mortgage rates.

PTSB chief executive Jeremy Masding had earlier revealed that the bank's current costs of funds is just 55 basis points.

By comparison, its managed variable rate for those borrowing on a loan-to-value ratio of 90 per cent is 4.3 per cent and 4 per cent for those with an LTV of 80 per cent. Burgess said this plump margin was “destroying” the bank’s brand.

Cook rejected the charge, countering that PTSB could hardly be accused of profiteering when it has spent the past eight years in the red. Its pre-tax loss for 2015 was €434 million.

In a Father Ted moment, Breda O'Byrne, an elderly lady, said the bank's shares were worth "feck all" and the bank should consider a name change to "the bank of feck all".

She was also outraged at the €8.6 million paid to KPMG – PTSB's auditor from the pre-crash years before later being replaced by PwC – for its work on the mortgage redress programme. "It's not high finance, it's just mortgages and security," she said. "It's a downright disgrace."

Helen Grogan recounted her sorry tale of being “cheated” out of a tracker mortgage, which she reckons has cost her €40,000 in additional interest payments over the past seven years.

An elderly gentleman suggested the AGM was a waste of time given that the State controlled the company. The bank would be “well advised to look for a very tiny cloakroom” for future meetings.

This brought some titters from the crowd even though the problems of the bank are no laughing matter.