DUBLIN: Bank of Ireland’s new shares started trading Monday at €7.38 each –compared to the 24.60 cents each where they closed last Friday. The bank has completed a reorganisation that included swapping every 30 old shares for one new share – a process known as a reverse split or stock consolidation.
Shareholders still hold their stake on the bank in the same proportion they always did but 97pc of what was a huge number of physical shares have been cancelled. The number of shares expanded as Bank of Ireland kept issuing extra stock during the bailout as it needed more and more cash. The change is expected to take some of the volatility out of Bank of Ireland. And at around the €7 a share level, Bank of Ireland is easier to compare to AIB – which is trading around €5 having already been through reverse swap.
Bank of Ireland’s share consolidation is part of a wider process that was signed off by the High Court last month. Shareholders will now hold their stake in a holding company that sits at a remove from the part of the bank that holds customer deposits. Similarly, bonds will now be issued at a remove, and in theory this will minimise the risk of a future bailouts – because shareholders and bondholders can be burned without direct implications for the operating parts of the banks.
