Allied Irish posts first full-year loss
ALLIED Irish Banks said it would try to sell assets or a stake in the group before approaching shareholders or the government for further capital, after posting its first ever full-year net loss.
Allied Irish, in which the government last year acquired a 25 per cent indirect stake and which is also participating in a “bad bank” scheme, yesterday repeated it was looking at options to replenish its capital, with more state help a last resort.
“We understand from our shareholders that they want us to release capital from our business before we go back to them,” group managing director Colm Doherty told analysts after releasing a results statement which had been vague on capital plans pending restructuring talks with the EU.
Ireland’s second-biggest bank by market value said it would transfer property loans worth up to €23bn (£20.9bn) to the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), Ireland’s bad bank, slightly below an earlier estimate of €24bn.
Doherty said the government had indicated it would ask for an average estimated discount of around 32 per cent on the total €80bn of loans to be taken over from Irish banks, higher than the initial 30 per cent forecast.