Banks suffer on back of lender’s gloom

IRISH banks suffered huge losses again yesterday as British lender Bradford & Bingley (B&B) warned of losses in the first quarter due to mounting bad debts.

B&B lends primarily to the buy-to-let sector where Bank of Ireland is also a player in that market through its British subsidiary.

Bank of Ireland is the second largest bank in Ireland after AIB, and its shares fell 6.87% to €7.59.