AIB joins rivals in front-loading coronavirus provisions

AIB has extended 25% of the 64,000 payment breaks introduced since March for those hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, 27% had returned to normal repayments. File Picture: Jason Cairnduff/Reuters

AIB joined rivals in pointing to some recovery as the economy emerges from lockdown after posting a €909 million first-half pretax loss, mainly due to provisions for customers affected by the pandemic.

Ireland's largest mortgage lender took a €1.2 billion charge and, like its rivals, said it expected that to represent the significant majority of its provisions for the year as a whole, before returning to more normalised levels in 2021.