Bernard Byrne favourite to take over as AIB chief

A string of large bets has seen Bernard Byrne installed as the firm favourite to succeed David Duffy as chief executive of AIB.

Bookmaker Paddy Power has slashed his odds from 4/1 one week ago, to 1/4 following a number of hefty punts.

Mr Byrne is director of personal and business banking at AIB, having joined the 99.8% state-controlled bank in 2011.

AIB chief financial officer, Mark Bourke, is the second favourite on 4/1, followed by AIB director of products Fergus Murphy at 5/1.

Mr Duffy announced on January 19 he was leaving AIB to join Clydesdale Bank.

The Government hired Goldman Sachs last month to advise it on the part privatisation of AIB as well as a restructuring of its capital base. AIB has €3.5bn of government-owned preference shares and €1.6bn of contingent convertible notes.

Bank of Cyprus CEO, John Hourican is 10/1 while the current chairman of AIB, Richard Pym, is 16/1. For the more adventurous, the head of Citigroup in Dublin, Aidan Brady, is quoted at 20/1, the same odds as Bank of Ireland CEO, Richie Boucher.

The former chief executive of Paddy Power and current Bank of Ireland board member, Patrick Kennedy, is 25/1. The head of State Street, Jay Hooley, is at 40/1.

But Mr Hooley, who last year earned over $15m, might be put off by the €500k salary cap. Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan is quoted at 80/1.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan, said he expects to fill the role as soon as possible.