AIB completes €91m share buyback programme

Over 690,000 shares were bought through Goodbody Stockbrokers by way of an on market buyback.

AIB has completed its €91m share buyback programme, it announced today.

The bank purchased over 2.2m shares, with the highest price paid for a share standing at €2.4780 and the lowest price was €2.4340.

Over 690,000 shares were bought through Goodbody Stockbrokers by way of an on market buyback. The remainder of the shares were purchased as directed buyback.

AIB has purchased nearly 41m shares as part of the now completed buyback programme. The shares were bought at a volume weighted average price of €2.2221 per share.

The Irish Examiner has previously reported that AIB was to return €64m to the State as part of the €91m share buyback scheme.

As the bank's largest shareholder at just under 70%, the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said earlier this month that he had accepted an offer from AIB to buy back a significant number of shares in the bank.

The buyback programme will be in addition to the payment of a proposed €122m cash dividend to all shareholders. It means the State expects to receive a total of approximately €149m from the company by December 31.

“Participating in this buyback programme on a proportionate basis is a positive step both for AIB and the State, as its largest shareholder, and will enable us to recover more money for citizens," Paschal Donohoe said.

In an update earlier this month, AIB said it expects income for the first quarter to grow by 4% with the bank holding €55.7bn in performing loans and holding a third of Ireland's mortgage market. AIB issued new loans worth €2.8bn in the first three months, an 18% increase on the same period last year.