Allied Irish Bank has ranked in fifth place in the top ten global bank losses in 2012, with losses of some $5 billion (€3.8bn), according to The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks . The Irish bank came behind Spain’s Bankia, which had the dubious title of reporting the largest banking loss last year, at $33 billion. Two other Spanish banks also featured in the top five, as well as the UK’s Royal Bank of Scotland, which ranked fourth with losses of $8.3 billion. Bank of Ireland also made the ranking, coming in 12th position, with losses of some €2.1 billion.
In the wider survey, which ranks banks based on assets, a Chinese bank, ICBC, topped the ranking for the first time ever. ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)moved from third to first place on the back of a 15 per cent increase in capital. Last year’s winner, Bank of America, fell back to third, while JP Morgan stayed second. The UK’s only bank in the top 10 is fourth-placed HSBC, which gains significant earnings from its Asian operations.
Ireland's AIB and Bank of Ireland placed in 90th and 112th position, respectively, out of the Top 1000 banks, with Permanent TSB in 241st place.
China now has 96 banks in the Top 1000 ranking and holds four places in the Top 10. Its big four banks ICBC, CCB, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China head the table for the largest profits.
Standard Chartered is the only major British bank to improve its performance in the latest ranking. Its profits increased by nearly 3 per cent and it edged up one place to 33rd. HSBC and Barclays saw falls in profits while RBS and Lloyds continued to make losses.
UK banks’ total profits were less than those of French banks even though the UK is a leading financial centre and banking is a key industry. Profits at UK banks fell 41 per cent while those of French banks fell 30 per cent.
Brian Caplen, editor of The Banker, says: “UK banks always used to outperform in the ranking but for the past several years they have been slipping back. The most successful British banks - HSBC and Standard Chartered - rely on earnings from Asia and other emerging markets to maintain their position.”
The total profits of the Top 1000 banks are now back to pre-crisis levels overall but their distribution is very uneven. Before the crisis UK banks accounted for nearly 11 per cent of global profits (2007), now they account for a meagre 2.61 oper cent. However, they are doing better than Spanish banks which together lost $73 billion, accounting for nearly 5 oer cent of Spain’s GDP.
In a table of 10 largest losses six of the banks are Spanish. The UK’s Co-operative Bank comes 25th in the same table. In Europe, one of the best performers is Turkey, where the banks grew profits by 37 per cent.
