Losses narrow at former Anglo Irish

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formerly Anglo Irish Bank, has reported a pre-tax loss of €873 million for the year to the end of December.

This compares with Anglo's record loss of €17.7 billion in 2010.

IBRC, which also includes Irish Nationwide Building Society, said that when bad loan disposals and provisions were excluded, it made an operating profit of €620 million in 2011.

The bank said it set aside a total €1.64 billion to cover loan losses, which include a lending impairment charge of €2.14 million.

Gross customer lending totalled €29.1 billion at the end of 2011. Impaired loans amounted to €17.8 billion, with cumulative impairment provisions of €10.4billion representing 36 per cent of total loan balances.

Overall, the percentage of impaired loans rose from 48 per cent in 2010 to 61 per cent last year, the bank said.

IBRC said it lost €640 million on the transfer and sale of some of its assets in Ireland, the UK and the US.

Total assets are now €55.5 billion, down 24 per cent or €17.4 billion due primarily to the transfer of €12.2 billion of Nama senior bonds to AIB and the sale of the majority of its US loan books.

Excluding the €29.9 billion in Government promissory notes, total assets were €25.6 billion at the end of last year.

IBRC said it had reduced staff costs by 8 per cent during 2011, with employment levels declining by 11 per cent to 1,219.

Over 200 employees were transferred to AIB while 183 staff members are working directing in its Nama division.

The bank said it received total funding from central banks and monetary authorities of €42.2billion last year.

“The twelve months to 31 December 2011 saw a period of significant change and welcome progress for the organisation. Following the focus on stabilising and de-risking Anglo Irish Bank in 2010, and the development of a restructuring plan for its future, a number of major initiatives were successfully concluded throughout 2011," said IBRC chief executive Mike Aynsley.

"Since the completion of the merger with the Irish Nationwide Building Society, the combined entity has now been reshaped into a fully integrated, fit for purpose, asset recovery organisation trading as IBRC. The primary focus of IBRC continues to be the deleveraging of its lending portfolio while maximising the return for the taxpayer.”

Mr Aynsley was paid €866,000 last year including pension contributions and other allowances. This is down from €974,000 in 2010. Chairman Alan Dukes was paid €150,000 in 2011, compared to €127,000 in 2010.