M&T Bank reports $156 million profit

M&T Bank Corporation, in which AIB has a 22.5% stake, reported third quarter profits of $156 million yesterday, up 42% on last year due to the acquisition of Allfirst from the Irish bank.

New Jersey-based M&T said earnings per share had risen by 10% to $1.28, driven by strong growth in its loan book.

M&T acquired Allfirst from AIB last year in a $3 billion cash and share deal months after $691m in currency losses were uncovered.

Michael Pinto, M&T chief financial officer said: “We are pleased with the progress made in integrating Allfirst’s operations into M&T. We are confident M&T’s full-year results for 2003 will be in line with current analysts’ estimates,” he said.

The bank said expenses from the acquisition of Allfirst were $12m in the quarter, mainly from costs for professional services, travel, and the integration of Allfirst into M&T.

For the nine-months to end September earnings per share were $3.48 with new profits up 20% to $407m. M&T said its assets rose 47% in the third quarter to $50.3bn. Net interest, or lending, income rose 36% from a year earlier to $435m. Non-interest income jumped by 80% to $232m.

M&T is one of the fastest growing companies in the US and is among the 20 largest financial institutions.