Tempers flare, eggs fly at agm

A disgruntled shareholder was ejected from Bank of Ireland’s annual general meeting in Dublin today after he threw an egg at the bank’s executives.

Gary Keogh (67), from Blackrock, Co Dublin, was escorted from the building after he threw an egg at chief executive Richie Boucher and chairman Pat Molloy.

Mr Keogh failed to find his target, with the Bank of Ireland executives dodging the projectile.

It was the second occasion that Mr Keogh, who is retired, has taken aim at bank executives.

In 2009, he hit AIB chairman Dermot Gleeson with two eggs at a meeting to approve the State's recapitalisation of the bank. Mr Keogh says he lost almost €20,000 following an investment in AIB shares.

Speaking outside the meeting, Mr Keogh criticised Mr Boucher's salary and described the bank as "lower than bottom-pond insects".

Mr Keogh claimed he had invested €5,000 in Bank of Ireland shares in 2007, which he now estimates were worth €40.

Mr Keogh was not the only unhappy shareholder at the meeting, with others questioning where the €3.6 billion raised from shareholders last year had gone. The bank is currently trying to raise an additional €5.2 billion.

"You told lies after lies after lies," Pat King, one of many shareholders who have seen the value of their shares drop from nearly €10 in 2007 to little over 10 cents four years later, told Mr Molloy and his board.

"But let us assume for a moment you are not liars and you are just incompetent. If you are incompetent, then you should shuffle off. It is nothing personal but why do not you just go ... We do not trust you."

Mr Molloy said if the loan losses and losses on disposals between 2011 and 2013 equate to the group's estimates, it should "significantly exceed" the 10.5 per cent minimum core tier 1 capital required by the Central Bank by the end of 2013.

Deposit outflows have "stabilised" since late 2010, and there are indications that the economy has also stabilised, he said.

Impairments remain high, although losses on loans outside those which were sold to the Government's bad bank peaked in 2009.

Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters