Bank of Ireland has announced that its Bristol & West network has been sold to Britannia Building Society £150m (€218m).

BANK OF IRELAND has sold its struggling Bristol & West branch network in Britain for €218 million (stg£150m).

Bank of Ireland has signed an agreement for the sale of its Bristol & West branch network and associated deposit base to Britannia Building Society for about £150m (€218m), the bank said today.

A SHORTLIST of bidders for Bank of Ireland-owned Bristol & West has been drawn up, according to reports yesterday.

BANK of Ireland is expected to announce this week that it is to shed 2,000 jobs as part of cost-cutting measures.

Bank of Ireland has announced the retirement of former chief executive Maurice Keane from the court of directors.

BANK OF IRELAND finally cut its losses with an ill-fated British subsidiary yesterday by selling Chase de Vere for €30 million, a fraction of the €170m the bank paid for it.

BANK of Ireland is reported to have received an offer for its British independent financial advice business Chase de Vere.

The Iseq index was up 30.35 points to 5,153.62 in Dublin this morning.

The Dublin market closed under par as bank stocks fell. At the end of the day the ISEQ was down 10.98 points, or -0.24%, at 4,625.694 points.

BANK of IRELAND will close a significant number of Bristol and West’s 132 branches under a massive restructuring plan for its ailing mortgage business in the UK, it was reported yesterday.

BRITAIN'S second biggest mortgage lender Abbey National, targeted last year recently by Bank of Ireland, slumped to its first annual loss of €1.447 (Stg£984m) in a massive reversal of fortunes.

WHILE profits at Bank of Ireland met market forecasts, the shares fell 5% to €10.86 in early trading.