AIB boss: 'We have fixed the bank and are ready to sell shares'

AIB CHIEF EXECUTIVE Bernard Byrne has said that the board has “fixed the bank” and added that the institution is now ready to be returned to private ownership.

AIB, which was bailed out by the taxpayer during the financial crisis, is still almost entirely state-owned, but is now profitable again.

Although it was originally hoped that some of the bank’s shares would be sold off to return money to the taxpayer this year, a variety of events, such as the UK’s vote to leave the EU, means that this is unlikely to happen in the near future.

Speaking at the Chartered Accountants Leinster Society lunch today in Dublin, Byrne said that the bank is still ready for some of its shares to be sold off.

“The value creation came from fixing the things that broke the bank. That phase is over. We have fixed the bank,” he said. “We have done the work, we have remediated the issues, we have made it more efficient.

“As the regulator is increasing the capital requirements at all institutions, towards 25-30% of your total funding is going too come from different forms of capital (and) it is crucial that the private sector is able to put that capital in.”

He added: “Our challenge now is to move to the next phase. We think it is in the interest of all concerned that the continuation of capital from private to state continues but ultimately that is timing for the Minister (of Finance) to choose.”