M&T profits up by $87m

FIRST quarter profits at M&T Bank – the New York-based institution in which AIB holds a 23% stake – grew by $87 million (€64.5m), on an annualised basis, to $151m, helped by a lowering in lending costs.

The net income total, for the three months to the end of March, compared favourably to a profit of $64m for the corresponding quarter last year and was up from a profit of $137m for the preceding three months.

AIB is set to sell its stake in the American bank this year, as part of its post- NAMA recapitalisation efforts, which call for the bank to raise €7.4 billion in new capital by early next year.