Bank of Ireland said today it expected its underlying earnings per share (EPS) to rise about 22 per cent in its current financial year due to strong income growth and cost savings ahead of target.
The company said in a trading statement it expected its underlying EPS for the year to the end of March to be in line with the current market consensus of 144.4 cents, up from 118.5 cents in the previous year.
It said it expected to deliver income growth of about 12 per cent and cost growth of about 5 per cent for the year.
The bank said its growth strategies were delivering strong performances across the group and it expected to deliver 2006/07 cost savings ahead of the €75 million it had targeted.
Bank of Ireland, which has a market value of over €17 billion, raised its EPS growth guidance to about 20 percent last November after reporting a better than expected 27 per cent rise in underlying earnings in the first half of its business year.
Global stock market jitters have seen shares in the company slip from a life high of €18.83 set last month but are still trading around the €17 mark where they started the year.