- Strong financial performance puts taxpayer in strong position to recoup €20.8bn investment
- AIB reported a profit before tax of €1.2bn, an increase of €0.8bn on the same period in 2014
- In supporting the Irish economy loans of €7bn were approved by the Group with drawdowns of €4bn of which €2.7bn was in ROI, a 56% increase on the same period in 2014
- A third 25bps reduction in the owner occupier standard variable rate (SVR) for new and existing customers
- Continued momentum in owner occupier mortgage arrears, reducing by 13% in H1 2015
Commenting on the details of the AIB results, Minister Noonan stated:
“I welcome the strong set of results announced by AIB today and their confirmation that they are well positioned to start returning material amounts of capital to the Irish State. This morning’s comment from the bank’s CEO that subject to regulatory approval, the bank is strong enough to do this now, means that the State’s finances should receive a significant benefit in the coming year independent of any decision to sell some of our shares in the bank.
The strong growth in new lending activity which was significantly higher across a broad range of sectors reflects increased demand for credit as the economic environment continues to improve.
AIB also continues to make significant progress in reducing distressed loan balances with the total number of accounts in arrears declining by 13% including a 13% decrease in owner occupier mortgage arrears.
Finally, I welcome the bank’s decision to implement a further 0.25% cut in their standard variable rate (SVR) for new and existing customers, this is the third such rate cut that the bank has implemented and will be of significant benefit to large numbers of the bank’s customers”.
Ends
7th August 2015
