AIB close to six-year high in share value

AIB, Ireland’s biggest company with a market value of €14 billion expects a further rise in profits this year following a strong first quarter.

AIB, which has operations in Britain, Poland and the US, said it expected 2005 earnings per share to be in the range of 135 to 137cent, based on new international accounting rules.

“The prospects remain bright for AIB”, chairman Dermot Gleeson said at the company’s annual general meeting in Dublin.