Building society EBS has reported a pre-tax loss of almost €250m for the first six months of the year.
This was mainly due to €156.8m of losses on loans it transferred or is due to transfer to the National Asset Management Agency, while EBS also set aside €118.7m to cope with potential losses from its remaining loans.
The society is currently in talks with four parties on a possible sale of the business. It said it was working closely with the Department of Finance and National Treasury Management Agency to achieve the best possible outcome for the State and EBS.
Chief executive Fergus Murphy said the four were extremely interested in EBS and had spent time with officials from the society studying its operations in great detail. He expected the sale to be finalised by the year's end.
EBS said it made a profit of €25.6m in the first half when loan losses were excluded, The society said it cut costs by almost 5% in the period, adding that 126 jobs at EBS had gone since 2008.
During the six months, EBS's total income fell by 14.3% to €70.8m, hit by the increased cost of funds on international money markets.
'We continue to make good progress in stabilising the business and we are determined that a viable EBS will continue to play an important role in the financial services market in Ireland,' said chief executive Fergus Murphy.
