AIB said today it has made a strong start to the year and is recovering well from the Allfirst fiasco.
The bank said in a trading statement it expects to record mid-single digit growth in earnings. It also said it expects Irish economic growth of 3.5 per cent this year and that favourable demographic trends have created a positive operating environment.
AIB has opened more than 277,000 Special Savings Incentive Accounts and its home mortgage business has almost doubled since last year. Lending demand is also good across a range of commercial and corporate sectors, the bank said.
Referring to Allfirst, AIB said it is well under way to implement all of the actions arising from the Allfirst fraud, as well as to meet the requirements of its regulators. This includes a comprehensive review of AIB's entire risk and governance organisation.
AIB said Allfirst is showing resilience and encouraging trends following the losses incurred by the foreign exchange losses. Average core deposits are up on the comparative period last year and have remained broadly stable since the announcement of the fraud.
The bank said it expects its Polish operation to improve significantly this year. Loan loss provisions in Poland are expected to be lower than in 2001 on an underlying basis.
Cost growth is expected to moderate for the full year to around 6 per cent although the interim figure will be higher.