Wilbur Ross rules out investing in Permanent TSB

US billionaire Wilbur Ross, who made a €500 million profit buying shares in Bank of Ireland at the height of the financial crisis, ruled out investing in Permanent TSB, the only Irish lender to fail European stress tests last month.

"Having gone to the dance with Bank of Ireland, and we had a very good waltz with them, I think we'll be faithful to it," Mr Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Francine Lacqua in London today in response to a question whether he'll consider investing in Permanent TSB.

Mr Ross was part of a group of five investors to help rescue Bank of Ireland in 2011 by buying a 35 per cent stake in the country’s biggest lender for €1.1 billion.

He sold his shares this year, making a €500 million profit, according to data compiled from company filings.

Permanent TSB, the smallest of three surviving bailed-out Irish banks, this month began to court investors as it seeks to fill a capital hole that emerged during European Central Bank stress tests.

Permanent TSB chief executive Jeremy Masding said last week the lender may need to raise as much as €150 million of capital as a result of the ECB assessment.

He said the 99.2 per cent Government-owned bank has covered more than 80 per cent of an €855 million shortfall that emerged in the extreme scenario of the tests with the help of €400 million of State-owned contingent convertible bonds and by shrinking its balance sheet.

Bloomberg