BoI CHIEF CONFIDENT LOAN LOSSES HAVE PEAKED - Bank of Ireland lost €1.2 billion before tax in the first six months of this year - a little less than analysts had expected and double the losses of the same period last year.
Its profit before impairment charges and losses on the sale of loans to NAMA was €553m for the six months, down 32% from the comparable six months last year.
The bank says again that impairment charges peaked last year and will reduce progressively between now and 2012. It has also received approaches for its fund management unit BIAM.
Richie Boucher, Bank of Ireland's chief executive, said the bank had been through its loan book and was sticking to its forecast that loan losses peaked in the second half of last year. Mr Boucher said total loan losses would continue to fall and would 'normalise' by 2013.
The BoI chief said losses from business lending had peaked, as had loans to consumers, but mortgage losses would remain high, though they had stabilised. He said more than 50% of its mortgage customers who were in arrears had some sort of arrangement with the bank to pay back the loans.
On the bank guarantee scheme, Mr Boucher said the bank was making its plans to exit the guarantee schemes as quickly as possible after raising capital earlier this year.
Mr Boucher said BoI had made €700m in payments to the taxpayer in the first half of this year. He said it was important that it repaid its State investments as without this it could not pay dividends to shareholders.
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CURRENCIES - The euro is trading at €1.3106 and 82.87p sterling.
