Bank of Ireland’s asset quality will continue to improve in the future, according to ratings agency DBRS.
The company has based its assessment on the news from July that the bank’s impaired loans reduced to €5.4 billion by the end of June 2017, down from €6.2 billion at the end of December 2016.
DBRS also noted that Bank of Ireland’s exposure to non-performing loans had improved to €8.1 billion by June 2017.
The Irish Stock Exchange-listed bank reported an underlying profit before tax of €480 million for the first half of 2017. This, a DBRS note to clients says, reflects the company’s increased investment in its core banking platforms, and decreased gains on the sale of sovereign bonds and other assets.
It also noted that because of commercial discipline on pricing, the bank reported a net interest margin of 2.32 per cent in the first half of the year.
