Buyback ‘will pay off for banks’

THE markets will reward AIB and Bank of Ireland for their €1 billion plus share buyback programme, Merrion Stockbrokers said.

Bank of Ireland has spent more than €380m buying back shares since May and AIB Bank has invested €792m buying back shares since the beginning of the year.

Merrion financial sector analyst Seamus Murphy believes the massive investment will pay dividends in terms of share price.