AIB: Bank makes pre-tax profit of €629m after €931m loss

Image source, Getty Images

  • Author, John Campbell
  • Role, ý News NI Economics & Business Editor

AIB made a pre-tax profit of €629m (£520m) in 2021, compared to a €931m (£770m) loss in 2020.

The bank's UK division, which includes its Northern Ireland business, had a pre-tax profit, excluding one-off factors, of £107m.

In 2021, the bank announced it was closing eight branches in NI.

The bank has also withdrawn from small business lending in Great Britain to focus on larger corporate customers.

AIB's improved financial performance largely reflects changes in loan loss provisions.

These provisions are money a bank must put aside to cover loans which they assess are unlikely to be repaid in full.

Most banks made large provisions at the start of the pandemic in 2021 but have since reversed these as economies performed better than originally feared.

The bank's chief executive, Colin Hunt, said 2021 was a year of "very significant progress" despite uncertainties related to the pandemic.

He added that the mortgage market in Ireland performed strongly in 2021 with total drawdowns of €10.5bn up 25% from €8.4bn in 2020.