Bank Of Ireland Share Discussion Threads

[cricklewood] 22/1/2014 16:12

All the banks are taking a hit today ?

[hopperagain] 22/1/2014 14:42

Buys outperforming sells eventually, some very big buys

[bongo bwana] 22/1/2014 12:31

......and HVS ur 23 shillings short of being a £

[hvs] 22/1/2014 10:50

its bankrupt

[kemorkid] 22/1/2014 10:49

Any views here would be appreciated.

[mark88man] 18/1/2014 15:11

what are the next key dates for BKIR either corporate or political? thanks !!

[cruiser70] 18/1/2014 12:59

Now that is great news,onward.

[cricklewood] 18/1/2014 07:22

Ireland regains investment grade rating from Moody's

Agency upgrades rating by notch to Baa3 in a major post-bailout boost for the Government

Moody's, which gave Ireland its top Aaa grade in 1998 before the euro was introduced, cut the country's rating to non-investment grade, or junk, in July 2011 following the financial collapse. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Moody's, which gave Ireland its top Aaa grade in 1998 before the euro was introduced, cut the country's rating to non-investment grade, or junk, in July 2011 following the financial collapse. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg









Mr Noonan


Fri, Jan 17, 2014, 22:17



First published:
Fri, Jan 17, 2014, 21:50
17




The credit rating of the Irish Government has been raised to investment grade by Moody's the most influential of the international credit rating agencies.

In a statement tonight, Moody's said that it was upgrading Ireland's credit rating by one notch to Baa3, the lowest investment grade.

Prior to the financial crisis Ireland held a AAA or "triple A" rating. The highest possible.

New York-headquartered Moody's also changed the outlook for Ireland's credit rating from stable to positive, holding out the prospects of a further upward re-rating later in the year.

Moody's said the reasons for the upgrade were the growth potential of the economy and the Government's exit from the EU-IMF bailout.

"The first driver of the upgrade is the recent acceleration of economic growth, which indicates an increased likelihood of securing the sustained long-term growth needed to achieve a turnaround in Ireland's public finances. A key positive signal is the faster pace of employment creation, with the unemployment rate having dropped 2.7 percentage points from its Q2 2012 peak, despite a rise in the participation rate," it said in a statement tonight.

It also noted the Government's ability to exit the bailout without a precautionary credit line, which it said "reflects that the government's reform agenda stayed largely on track throughout the programme, despite weaker than expected domestic and external economic conditions".

It said that it expects Ireland will hit its target of reducing its exchequer deficit to below 3 per cent of economic output by 2015. Other factors included the regaining of market confidence through the restructuring of the banking system. "As a consequence, our baseline expectation is that the government will need to provide very little, if any, of the capital that the Irish banks may need following the upcoming EU-wide stress tests, consistent with its Baa3 rating." it said.

The only sour note was struck over the slow pace of the clean-up of the banking system . Moody's warned that the pressure being brought to bear on the banks by the Central Bank is " likely to increase foreclosures, impairing profitability and potentially dampening the housing market recovery".

The positive outlook was attributed to an expectation of a sustained recovery in the Irish economy and signs of stronger growth coming through from the rest of Europe. If the economy grows rapidly enough to put Ireland's debt to GDP ration "on a firm downward path", then a further upgrade is likely.

"Downward pressure would develop... should the country's fiscal consolidation process falter," pushing the debt ratio significantly above its current level of roughly 100 per cent.

Moody's is the last of the main credit rating agencies to give Ireland an investment grade. All three – including Standard & Poor's and Fitch – had cut Ireland to sub-investment or "junk" status in the aftermath of the 2010 financial bailout from the IMF and EU.

The re-rating by Moody's clears the way for more conservative investors, particularly in the Middle and Far East, to buy Irish Government debt. Many of these funds are precluded from investing in Government debt if it does not have an investment grade rating from all three of the big credit rating agencies.

Speaking earlier yesterday at the launch of a new $100 million joint-venture investment fund between Ireland and China, Mr Noonan said: "A lot of Asian funds would like to invest in Irish government bonds, but they need all the ratings agencies to have Ireland at investment grade first. But I have no doubt that, before too long, there will be funds flowing from China to the Irish sovereign."

The yields on Irish bonds – a measure of investor appetite – have fallen steadily since it became clear late last year that Ireland would successfully exit its the bailout. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was 3.17per cent at the close of trading last night. The impact of the Moody's re-rating will not be clear until markets reopen again on Monday.

The National Treasury Management Agency – which raises and manages debt for the Government – raised €3.75 billion last week in its first foray into debt markets since Ireland exited the bailout on December 15th. The NTMA is not expected to look to raise more debt in the short term.

"I am pleased to note that one of the main drivers for today's upgrade was Ireland's restored market access,'' the NTMA chief executive John Corrigan said last night. "The change to the ratings outlook represents a positive context for future rating reviews."

Moody's also upgraded the debt ratings of the National Asset Management Agency, whose debt is guaranteed by the Government, to investment grade and its outlook to positive.


hxxp://www.independent.ie/business/boost-for-economy-as-states-debt-finally-upgraded-from-junk-status-29927381.html

[cricklewood] 17/1/2014 14:37

Fitch Affirms Irish Banks' IDRs; Upgrades Bank of Ireland's VR to 'b+'
Thu Jan 16, 2014 8:04pm IST
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Allied Irish Banks PLC
ALBK.I
€0.15
+0.00+2.74%
18:46:00 IDT

Bank of Ireland
BKIR.I
€0.30
+0.00+0.17%
19:30:00 IDT
(The following statement was released by the rating agency) LONDON, January 16 (Fitch) Fitch Ratings has affirmed Bank of Ireland (BOI) and Allied Irish Banks, plc's (AIB) Long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'BBB' with Stable Outlooks and Short-term IDRs at 'F2'. Fitch has upgraded BOI's Viability Rating (VR) to 'b+' from 'b' and affirmed AIB's VR at 'b-'. Fitch has also affirmed and withdrawn Permanent TSB P.L.C.'s (PTSB) ratings. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this rating action commentary. The upgrade of BOI's VR reflects further improvement in the bank's risk profile, including our expectation of a return to profitability during 2014, which will support the bank's improved capital flexibility following its recent share issue and redemption and sale of its preference shares to private investors. The share issue funded the redemption of a portion of BOI's perpetual preference shares, with the rest purchased by private investors, which has improved the bank's common equity Tier 1 (CET1) solvency and further reduced BOI's dependence on government support. PTSB's 'cc' VR and'2' Support Rating (SR) have been affirmed and withdrawn as Fitch does not consider these ratings to be relevant to its coverage. KEY RATING DRIVERS - IDRs AND SENIOR DEBT, SRs, SUPPORT RATING FLOORS The affirmation of BOI's and AIB's IDRs, senior debt ratings, SRs and Support Rating Floors reflects Fitch's view that there would be a high probability of support from the authorities if required. Fitch considers support to be even stronger in the short term, resulting in the banks' Short-term IDRs being affirmed at 'F2', which is the higher of two potential Short-term ratings mapping to their 'BBB' Long-term IDRs. The Stable Outlooks are based on Fitch's view that support will continue to be forthcoming, although this is sensitive to evolving developments around support for EU banks. Any downgrade of the Irish sovereign rating, which is highly unlikely in the near term, would also likely be reflected in negative rating action on BOI and AIB. RATING SENSITIVITIES - BOI and AIB's IDRs, SRs, SUPPORT RATING FLOOR AND SENIOR DEBT BOI and AIB's IDRs, SRs, SRFs and senior debt ratings are sensitive to any change in Fitch's assumptions about the on-going availability of extraordinary sovereign support for the banks. In Fitch's view, there is a clear intention ultimately to reduce implicit state support for financial institutions in the EU, as demonstrated by a series of legislative, regulatory and policy initiatives, most recently agreement between the European Council and Commission on the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive. In September 2013, Fitch commented

[cruiser70] 17/1/2014 14:07

Although dated this week that article is a rehash of old news before the pref shares were sorted.

[cricklewood] 17/1/2014 11:25

hxxp://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/16/bank-of-ireland-is-now-the-time-to-buy/

[1973don] 16/1/2014 17:21

Only bank in Ireland that is funding at present. It has a near monopoly and can pick and choose the best projects..

[cricklewood] 15/1/2014 07:16

continues to improve.

Colm Kelpie – 15 January 2014

IRELAND recorded the highest growth in industrial production of any country in the EU in the year to the end of November, Eurostat figures have revealed.

And industrial production across the eurozone in November was the strongest in three years and rose faster than expected, signalling that the recovery in the 18-member bloc gathered momentum in the final months of 2013.

While Ireland topped the table, Malta and debt-riddled Greece suffered the largest declines.

Industrial production here rose 13.2pc between November 2012 and November 2013.

Ireland also had the highest increase of 11.7pc month on month between October and November, compared with an EU average growth of 1.5pc and a euro-area average of 1.9pc. The data points to a slight acceleration of the economic recovery of the €9.5 trillion eurozone economy in the last quarter of 2013 compared with the previous three months, when it nearly stalled because of a weak performance in France and Italy.

Production in the bloc's largest economy, Germany, grew 2.4pc on the month in November, showing its strongest rise since July 2011, while output in the second largest, France, rose 1.4pc.

The positive results for France came just hours before President Francois Hollande was due to unveil his new reform agenda in a bid to give a boost to the country's economy. Ireland's reading was the highest increase in the EU followed by Slovakia, up 12.7pc, the Czech Republic, up 8.8pc, and Romania, up 8.7pc.

The southern periphery also saw some improvement as Spain's output returned to growth and Portugal's production was up by 1.5pc.

Stockbrokers Davy last week highlighted the fact that recent purchasing managers' indices point to a health pipeline of new orders into this year, with the outlook for the sector remaining positive.

But it warned volatility from the pharmaceutical patent cliff may continue into the year and could not be ruled out.

"Nevertheless, while the volatility may affect the industry and trade numbers, it has very little pass-through to the domestic economy and will not derail the recovery," the stockbroker said.


hxxp://www.independent.ie/business/irish/ireland-reports-strongest-growth-in-europe-for-industrial-production-29916921.html

[cricklewood] 14/1/2014 09:00

First published:
Tue, Jan 14, 2014, 01:00

The issues of loan arrears, capital adequacy and profitability will all "effectively be resolved" in the Irish banking sector in the next two years, according to AIB chief executive David Duffy.

In an article by Mr Duffy published by law firm McCann Fitzgerald as part of its corporate outlook for 2014, Mr Duffy said: "The pillar banks [AIB and Bank of Ireland] are expected to return to profitability during 2014-15 and should be adequately capitalised to meet ECB [stress test] and other criteria unless there are changes to the rules at a European level."

Mr Duffy said it was "vital that the business of banking is normalised sooner rather than later". He said a normal level of mortgage lending would be between €8 billion and €10 billion a year, not the €40 billion at the peak of the property bubble.

"But right now, due to limited demand, banks are lending about half that level," he said. "With the banks returning to health, we will see the share of cash buyers in the housing market decline and first-time buyers have access to mortgages they need."

Mr Duffy said 12,000 to 18,000 houses a year need to be built to keep in line with demographics and growth, "as well as appropriate commercial property developments".


Debt legacy
The AIB chief said the legacy of debts accumulated during the "boom years" was still too high.

"Our debt/income ratio on some measures is still above acceptable long-term, sustainable levels, so deleveraging still has a way to go, especially in terms of the household balance sheet."

He said net reductions in lending in the State would continue, because the amounts banks lend to borrowers would be "exceeded by the nominal value of debt repayments by consumers and businesses for the foreseeable future".

However, he said, the State was now getting to a "tipping point" in this regard as house prices and unemployment levels stabilise.

Mr Duffy argued that more effort needs to be made to achieve regional economic balance. "Dublin has become a European technology hub, which is to the country's benefit. But we also need greater synergies between the universities, IDA, banks and other parties to build attractive propositions outside of Dublin for future investment."

Mr Duffy aired his concerns about Ireland's ability to continue to attract substantial levels of foreign direct investment.

"My concern is that the model for FDI success in the past – affordable, well-educated labour and a good telecoms infrastructure – has left us complacent about the future. We face real skills shortages and the challenge is to equip our schoolleavers and graduates with the skills that will be demanded by a tech-based economy. We must continue to invest in our physical infrastructure."

Mr Duffy said the end of dairy quotas in the EU in 2015 represented an "enormous opportunity" for the agribusiness sector here to "secure higher levels of productivity, following the example of New Zealand, which in turn will drive export growth."

[leebong] 13/1/2014 19:19

Excellent trading day...pleased about the Bill Gates Foundation new story....now that's a good omen.

[cricklewood] 13/1/2014 17:04

Another super day here, long may it continue.

[cricklewood] 13/1/2014 09:50

hxxp://www.independent.ie/business/irish/heavy-hitter-hasenstab-backs-irelands-bid-for-upgrade-by-moodys-29909717.html
"Absolutely we think Ireland deserves to be investment grade -- that's no question," said Michael Hasenstab, head of fixed income at US giant Franklin Templeton, in an interview with 'The Sunday Business Post'.

Moody's will announce its latest decision on Ireland's credit rating later this week. It is the only major ratings agency to still class the country at sub-investment grade or "junk" status. This deters many large institutional investors, particularly those from Asia and the Middle East, from buying into the country.

[cricklewood] 12/1/2014 09:32

Bill Gates steams in to buy Irish bonds in bet on recovery


The Gates Foundation also owns 61.6 million shares in Bank of Ireland, worth around €18.5m. It has also benefited from the share price rises at Paddy Power, holding 26,411 shares worth €1.65m. His foundation also has shares in Independent News & Media, which have quadrupled in value since the start of 2013.



hxxp://www.independent.ie/business/irish/bill-gates-steams-in-to-buy-irish-bonds-in-bet-on-recovery-29907734.html

[cricklewood] 11/1/2014 19:13

The Post Office offers three current accounts, in partnership with Bank of Ireland. A fee-free standard account can be opened with £100 and comes with a debit card, while a packaged account with European travel insurance up to the age of 70 and vehicle breakdown cover costs £8 a month. Both accounts have a competitive rate for overdrafts at 14.9pc EAR. There is also a control account to help people avoid bank charges for missed payments, but it has a £5 monthly fee.

[korkikorki] 11/1/2014 15:56

Interesting article in todays Telegraph, regarding the planned expansion of current accounts through the UK Post Office and Bank of Ireland JV.
Worth a look and perhaps someone can provide the link.

[leebong] 11/1/2014 12:18

Richie Boucher is about the best banker in Europe who also has an attitude that happens to be the right one for the times in which we live. The share price is going to be recovering for the rest of the year.

When the 2013 Full Year Results are published we will all have a much clearer picture to move forward with confidence. This has been an excellent week.

[cruiser70] 10/1/2014 21:22

I like this in that link above from Boucher

"Hopefully, we're doing normalised lending now. We don't actually make any money by saying 'no'. We must carefully say 'yes'. It's important that we learn the lessons of the past but that we don't become gun shy."

[kemorkid] 10/1/2014 19:45

Up 5% in USA now -nice rise at open on Monday then??