AIB loan defaulters hit ‘all-time low’

THE number of AIB bank customers defaulting on loans is at an all-time low, company chairman Dermot Gleeson told shareholders yesterday.

In an upbeat address to shareholders at AIB’s annual general meeting in the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork yesterday, Mr Gleeson said the bank continues to enjoy excellent loan growth in Ireland, Britain and their international corporate banking activities.

“Asset quality, that’s to say the quality of our loans, is at a historically-high level. Put another way, the number of defaulting loans is at an historically-low level,” Mr Gleeson added.

However, Mr Gleeson did caution: “We anticipate some rise in interest rates over the next year.”

Mr Gleeson said the bank also expects another year of strong deposit growth.

“It’s 40 years since the Royal, Provincial, and Munster and Leinster joined together to form AIB. We have had good years and bad but have come a long way and learned a lot.

“We remain one of Ireland’s most successful companies and the prospects for future growth and profitability remain bright,” he said.

Mr Gleeson also revealed more AIB customers access their accounts through the internet every day than come through the doors of the bank’s 353 branches.

“To give an impression of the extent of our size and reach, we estimate every day about 64,000 people walk into an AIB branch on this island ... we estimate that 67,000 customers go online to visit AIB internet services every day in the Republic alone,” he told shareholders.