Bank of Ireland said today it had seen strong earnings growth in the first half of its financial year amid difficult market conditions.
The State's biggest company by market value said in a trading statement it expected to report high single-digit growth in pre-tax profit for the six months to September 30th.
The bank said it expected the results to reflect good performances in both its retail and wholesale businesses in the Republic.
It said its loan book quality remained strong. Shares in the bank were down around two per cent in early trading, slightly underperforming the overall market.
On the retail side, profits were seen growing by a low double digit percentage while pre-tax profit from wholesale financial services was seen up by a high single digit percentage.
Strength in its asset management business was expected to offset weakness in world equity markets, it said.
The bank said it would take an exceptional charge in the first half of €25 million, resulting from its exit from two peripheral businesses.
In an update to the market in July, the bank - which reported a 3.4 per cent rise in profit for the year to end-March - had said the new financial year had started well and that trading was satisfactory.