Bank of Ireland profits down by a third

Bank of Ireland has announced pre-tax profits of €650m for the six months to the end of September, a drop of just over a third compared with the same period last year.

No dividend will be paid to investors in the current financial year and the bank made no guarantees about when next a dividend would be paid, saying: "The group does not expect to resume paying cash dividends on ordinary stock until more favourable economic and financial conditions return."