BoI shares drop 3% on trading update

THE honeymoon ended for new Bank of Ireland chief executive Brian Goggin yesterday as the market took a dim view of the bank's latest trading update and sent the share price down 3%.

The bank said pre-tax profits for the six months to the end of September would be approximately 4%-6% ahead of the same period last year. Strong momentum in the Irish and British economies, which account for the bulk of the bank's operations, delivered impressive growth in lending volumes.

Mortgage lending in Ireland continued to soar and would be ahead by almost 30% on last year. Other lending was predicted to rise by more than 20%, while deposits were expected to be almost 10% up.