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Bank of Ireland Group PLC on Monday reported a big jump in half-year income and profit, prompting it to raise guidance for the full year. The Dublin-based lender said pretax profit in the six months that ended June 30 was €1.03 billion, up from €351 million a year before, on operating income of €2.20 billion, up from €1.37 billion. Within operating income, net interest income soared by 68% to €1.80 billion from €1.07 billion. This was mostly thanks to higher interest rates in Ireland and the UK. Bank of Ireland also cited higher lending volume and the recent acquisition of the KBCI loan portfolio. However, higher cost of funds weighed against net interest income. Back in February, Bank of Ireland completed the acquisition of KBC Bank Ireland customer portfolios, including €7.8 billion of loans and €1.8 billion of deposits. Looking ahead, Bank of Ireland expects net interest income in the second half to be ‘modestly higher’ than in the first half, but it expects total business income to be about the same. It expects operating expenses of €1.85 billion, in line with previous guidance, and non-core items to be lower in 2023 than in 2022. Its net credit impairment in the first half of 2023 was €158 million, increased from €47 million a year before. The bank’s non-performing exposures ratio was unchanged from December at 3.6%. Bank of Ireland’s fully loaded and regulatory CET1 capital ratios were 14.8% and 15.0%, respectively on June 30. It said these ratios included the accrual of a ‘foreseeable 2023 dividend’. Bank of Ireland shares were up 1.3% at €9.48 in London on Monday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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