Bank’s latest results underline pernicious nature of banking crisis

Bank of Ireland’s 2012 financial year results underline the extent of the Irish banking crisis.

It is by far the most robust of the three covered institutions yet it still made a pre-tax loss of €2.17bn.

Moreover, its chief executive Richie Boucher, declined to say when the bank will return to profitability or when loan losses will return to normal levels. It had an impairment charge of €1.7bn last year compared with a target of 55-65 basis points of its entire loan book.