AIB operating profit rises to €1.2bn at half way stage

Irish bank shares have been boosted hugely ever since the European Central Bank started hiking interest rates last July

AIB Chief Executive Officer Colin Hunt and Chief Financial Officer Donal Galvin at AIB’s Molesworth Street headquarters as the Group announces its half year results. Picture by Shane O'Neill, Coalesce.

AIB posted an operating profit of more than €1.2bn for the first six months, as the bank looked forward to “a very good” outcome for the full year, helped by European Central Bank rate hikes and the departure of rivals Ulster Bank and KBC Bank from the market.

The bank is the first of the three remaining major lenders to report financial results at the half-way stage.