A £13bn (€18m) mortgage portfolio put up for sale by the bad bank charged with winding down the assets of two failed British lenders has lured interest from several possible bidders, the group’s boss said yesterday.

TSB, which recently floated on the London Stock Exchange, is reportedly planning to bid for £1.4bn (€1.8bn) worth of British state-owned mortgages.

AIB has appointed Richard Pym as chairman designate and a member of the board as a non-executive director to replace the outgoing chairman David Hodgkinson who retires next October.

The state-owned UK company that runs nationalised Northern Rock Asset Management and Bradford & Bingley today said both companies returned to profit last year.