BoI ‘back to profit by 2014’

Bank of Ireland is on course to reach a break- even pre-tax profit level in the second half of this year before returning to outright profitability next year, according to Davy Stockbrokers.

It retains its outperform rating on the part state- owned bank and has upgraded pre-provision profit levels by 33% for this year and 37% for 2014.

One of the most encouraging trends in Bank of Ireland’s results for the first six months of the year — which prompted the upgrade in earnings forecasts — was the average net interest margin over that period which was 1.65%, said Davy. This was a considerable improvement on the 1.2% for the same period in 2012.