- Return to profitability puts taxpayer in strong position to regain €20.8bn investment over time.
- AIB returned to profit in 2014 – €1.1bn profit compared with a loss of €1.7bn in 2013 – representing a remarkable turnaround of €2.8bn
- Lending approvals and drawdowns increased significantly during the year with lending to businesses and individuals in Ireland increasing by €1.2bn (43%) in 2014 to €4.2bn – approvals increased by €2.7bn (31%) to €11.3bn
- Mortgage lending increased to €1.3bn in 2014, up 34% Year on Year
Speaking on his plans to recoup the states significant investment in AIB, following the 2014 full year results, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan T.D. stated:
“The strong results announced by AIB today are very encouraging and demonstrate the significant progress made in returning the bank to a position of strength. AIB is becoming an increasingly valuable asset and today’s results put the taxpayer in a strong position to regain the €20.8bn investment in the bank. Our attention now turns to the process of examining the range of options available to recoup this investment for the taxpayer.
While our focus is currently on restructuring the bank’s capital base, this is just the start of the process. All options remain on the table and it is too early to specify what steps will be taken next or to put a timeline on decisions.
I further welcome the bank’s announcement of its intention to pay its first cash dividend of €280m on the Preference Shares held by the State in May 2015”.
Commenting on the details of the AIB results, Minister Noonan stated:
“I welcome the strong growth in new lending activity which was higher across all the major sectors, in particular agriculture, manufacturing and tourism and reflects increased demand for credit as the economic environment improves.
AIB has also made significant progress in reducing distressed loan balances with owner occupier mortgage arrears dropping 22% and the process of restructuring the group’s SME book reaching its latter stages with the majority of offered SME restructures expected to complete during 2015”.
Ends
04 February 2015
Notes to Editors
- Based on the closing share price on 03 March 2015, AIB trades on a valuation multiple of c.6x (excluding the 2009 Preference Shares) the net asset value of the Group as at 31 December 2014. The Group continues to note that the median for comparable European banks is c.1x NAV
- Significant progress was made in restructuring impaired loans with non-performing loan balances reducing by €7bn (23%) in the year.
- The number of Irish owner occupier mortgage accounts that were in arrears declined by 22% and the majority of the bank’s SME customers that are in difficulty have been either offered or concluded a sustainable solution.
