BANK OF IRELAND made a pre-tax profit of €1 billion in the first six months of the year. 

The bank said that the increase in profit reflects higher interest rates, strategic actions and positive business momentum.

According to the interim results, new lending of €5.2 billion was up 20% compared to the first six months of last year.

Customer deposits of €101.7 billion increased €2.5 billion since December, mainly due to growth of €2.6 billion in its Retail Ireland division. 

Customer loan volumes increased by €8.7 billion in the first six months of the year to €74.6 billion. This includes €8 billion of loans acquired from KBCI in February and reflects “acquisitions and Irish net lending”, the bank said.

Total income for the period was €2.2 billion. The bank said its adjusted return on tangible equity (RoTE) – a measure of the bank’s profitability – stood at 18.5%.

The bank said reported costs were 12% higher in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, primarily reflecting acquisition impacts, lifting of variable pay restrictions and additional investment to drive future efficiencies.

Going forward, the bank said that net interest income in the second half of the year is expected to be modestly higher than the first half.

It said that total business income (including joint ventures) is expected to be broadly in-line with the first half of 2023.

Operating expenses for the full year are expected to be.€1.85 billion.

“These results are underpinned by the strategic decisions and investments we’ve made in recent years, supported by a resilient economy and a favourable rate environment,” Myles O’Grady, Bank of Ireland Group CEO, said.

“We are mindful of the challenges posed by the inflationary environment and are supporting our customers as they navigate them.”

In the first half of the year, Bank of Ireland took on more than 150,000 KBC customers after it bought the bank’s performing loan assets and deposits ahead of its departure from the Irish market. 

It later apologised to around 35,000 customers over an error which caused the mortgage “start date” for a number of mortgages transferring from KBC to BOI to be “incorrectly inputted into our systems”.

Last week, AIB reported an after-tax profit of €854 million for the first half of the year.