DUBLIN: Bank of Ireland posted pre-tax profits of €920m for the year to the end of 2014, compared to a loss of over €0.5 billion in 2013.
A big part of the improved performance was a €1.2 billion fall in the charge the bank had to take for bad loans. Its impairment charge for the year was €840m.
Bank of Ireland, like Ulster Bank which reported yesterday, has also been able to write back some of the charges it took in previous years largely due to rising house prices. It said today it wrote back €280m on its provisions for impaired loans.
The bank also said that more than nine out of ten of its owner occupier mortgage holders who have agreed restructuring arrangements are meeting the new agreed payments. Total income for the year to the end of December rose by 12% to €2.974 billion.
Shares in the bank rose sharply in Dublin trade, closing 7.6% higher at 34c.
The country’s largest lender by assets said its net interest margin, a measure that shows how profitable lending is, rose to 2.11% at the end of 2014.
Its Core Tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of financial strength, stood at 14.8% compared to 14.1% at the end of the third quarter.
It also noted that its Eligible Liabilities Guarantee (ELG) fees fell from €129m in 2013 to €37m last year.
