AIB could be close to raising part of its end-of-year capital requirement through the sale of its 22.5% stake in New York-based M&T Bank.

SPANISH banking giant Santander has emerged as the latest ‘favourite’ to land AIB’s 70% stake in Poland’s Bank Zachodni and could end up taking over most of the Irish banks’ international assets.

POLAND is set to back a bid by the state-controlled lender PKO to buy the Polish operations of AIB, a government minister said.

AIB has refused to comment on its progress in meeting capital-raising requirements, despite mounting speculation regarding its Polish operations and concerns over the possibility of state ownership.

SPANISH banking giant Santander, said to be interested in deals involving AIB’s British and US operations, could potentially be a bidder for the entire AIB group.

AIB has pencilled in a rights issue for September, to help it meet its €7.4 billion post-NAMA capital requirement by the end of the year.

FIRST quarter profits at M&T Bank – the New York-based institution in which AIB holds a 23% stake – grew by $87 million (€64.5m), on an annualised basis, to $151m, helped by a lowering in lending costs.

AIB is under pressure to sell off its prized US, British and Polish assets as the Government anticipates it could become a majority stakeholder in the bank.

M&T Bank saw its fourth-quarter earnings rise by 34%, beating analysts’s estimates, as the company’s bad debts fell.

AIB plans to sell off its €1.13 billion 22.64% holding in M&T Bank in the US to raise capital, it emerged yesterday.

AIB has declined to comment on continuing speculation that it may be on the verge of selling its 70% controlling stake in Polish bank, Bank Zachodni WBK.

SHARES in US-based M&T Bank Corp – 22.64% owned by AIB – are set to jump, accordingto the latest edition of Barron’s.

AIB is leveraging the Government’s bank guarantees in a debt buyback strategy which could leave AIB with a net profit of close to €1 billion.

THE Government says it has no intention of nationalising the country’s two largest banks, as AIB revealed plans to raise a further €1.5 billion.

ALLIED Irish Bank’s major holdings in a US and Polish bank are worth a staggering €1.3 billion more than the current €485 million value of AIB on the Irish Stock Exchange.

IT was reported last week that Irish banks were looking at diverse ways of shoring up their capital positions in a bid to avoid taking state funds or asking shareholders for money.

AIB expects its earnings to grow by a low double digit percentage this year despite a fall in profits at M&T Bank in the US where it has a 23.5% stake.

AIB’S top management team may be new to the job, but the message from the bank was still the same yesterday.

AIB has reported record annual profits for an Irish bank of €1.7 billion, as loan growth and lower tax charges outstripped cost increases.

IRISH stocks rose for the second consecutive day. The ISEQ ended the day 26.65 points higher at 6056.60 with the banking stocks the main catalysts for the rise.

A TAKEOVER premium is factored into the AIB Bank share price but not Bank of Ireland or Irish Life and Permanent, according to a leading banking analyst.

EUGENE SHEEHY, who was appointed AIB group chief executive designate in March, has joined the bank’s board.

Eugene Sheehy, who was appointed group chief executive of Allied Irish Banks plc in March, has been appointed an executive director of the group, with immediate effect.

AIB’s chief executive designate Eugene Sheehy is the man the bank appointed to sort out delinquent US subsidiary All-First after the Rusnak rogue trading fiasco cost the bank €691 million.

The ISEQ index slipped further back into the red today, falling 60.41 to close the day at 6,096.09.

The ISEQ index was down 15.31 points mid-morning at 6141.19.

AIB has announced that Eugene Sheehy will be the group’s new chief executive, to succeed Michael Buckley on his retirement in April.

US top 20 bank M&T, 22.5% owned by AIB, is set to report a jump in operating profits by close to 17% next week.

PROFIT growth of 19% at US bank M&T exceeded expectations but it had a modest positive impact on the shares price of its largest shareholder, AIB bank.

Wall Street was encouraged by a sharp drop in oil prices today and rebounded from its lows of Tuesday to close with just a narrow loss.

SHARES in Dublin fell for a second day yesterday. The ISEQ was in the red for most of the day's trading and finished 25.41 points lower at 5415.87.

A downgrade of the semiconductor sector sent technology shares lower on Wall Street today, but the overall stock market ended mixed as large-caps benefited from a late-day rally.

AIB’S Polish subsidiary doubled profits to over €27 million in the first three months of the year, the bank said yesterday.

AIB's latest annual report shows that chief executive Michael Buckley's pay packet grew to €1.4m in 2003.

SHARES in AIB slumped by just over 6% yesterday despite posting a rise in underlying earnings for 2003. The bank saw profits, excluding a number of one-off items, increase by 3% to €1.01 billion.

M&T Bank, in which AIB has a 22% stake, has reported a 26% rise in net profits for 2003.

Allied Irish Banks continues to make good progress and expects to achieve strong constant currency profit growth in its Irish, British and Capital Markets divisions, the bank said today.

ANGLO IRISH BANK and AIB Bank share prices are expected to increase substantially according to stockbroking houses.

AIB’S €2.2 billion, 22.5% stake in one of the US’s top 20 banks, M&T Bank, is not reflected in AIB’s share price, according to Davy Stockbrokers.

THE positive impact of AIB Bank’s €540m buyback of 40.5 million shares this year on earnings per share will be severely diluted by the introduction of €16 million formerly held in trust for Allfirst staff.

AIB’s Allfirst bad luck story continues. Yesterday the bank confirmed it was fined $4,000 for a breach of the US trade embargo with Libya.

AIB’S US bolt-hole, following the Allfirst rogue trader disaster, M&T Bank Corp is set to deliver earnings of close to €285 million next year — way ahead of anything a retained Allfirst would have generated.

AIB’S 420 million share buy-back scheme, using half the $900m in cash it received from the fire-sale of Allfirst in the US, has already netted 30% of its target.