AIB announces 23% profits increase

AIB made profits of more than €4m per day last year, it emerged today.

The largest Irish bank announced pre-tax profits of €1.7bn, which was a 23% increase on its €1.3bn profit in 2004.

Chief executive Eugene Sheehy said half the bank’s profit had been made in its overseas divisions.

“We have double digit growth in all our markets – Ireland, Britain, the capital markets and Poland. Really the bank is firing on all cylinders,” he told RTE radio.

AIB’s profit from its Irish operation increased by 24% to €779m.

However, this excluded the €50m the bank had to set aside to compensate customers it overcharged over a number of years for foreign exchange.

The bank said its strong Irish profit growth was generated through higher business volumes and the focus on customer relationship management. Its loans and deposits increased by 28% and 20% respectively on 2004.

AIB’s profits increased by 18% in Northern Ireland and Britain, by 13% in Poland and by 27% in capital markets.

The bank has recovered strongly since 2002, when it was rocked by the news that rogue trader John Rusnak had lost $691m (about €580m) on foreign exchange markets at its former US subsidiary Allfirst.