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Danske Bank in Northern Ireland made a pre-tax profit of £61m in 2021, more than four times higher than its 2020 profit of £13m.

However that is still well below the pre-pandemic profit of £90m in 2019.

The improving performance last year reflects a healthier loan book.

In 2020 the bank had set aside £45m for loans it did not expect to be repaid in full. By contrast in 2021 it included almost £15m of writebacks.

Writebacks are sums of money set aside to cover expected losses that can now be released as the loans performed better than expected.

The bank said it is now holding a record amount of customer deposits - £10.6bn which is up by £3bn from early 2020.

Chief executive Vicky Davies said that what happens to that money will be important for economic growth.

"When it comes to the pace of economic recovery, a lot will depend on pent up economic capacity like this turning into consumer spending and business investment," she said.

"That will require increased levels of both consumer and business confidence."

The bank said that lending to small businesses was up 9% year on year and approaching pre-pandemic levels.

However larger corporate lending was more subdued due to many firms holding cash and some delaying growth plans.