Boucher back at desk following cancer treatment

Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher has returned to work following his treatment for cancer.

It is understood that Mr Boucher returned to his desk in the middle of last week, having undergone surgery in early August. The Zambia-born executive had a successful operation to remove cancerous tissue from his colon and bowel.

The cancer was diagnosed following a routine check-up earlier this year and Mr Boucher informed staff at Bank of Ireland of the diagnosis in July.

Mr Boucher joined Bank of Ireland from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2003, as head of corporate banking. He was appointed group chief executive in early 2009, succeeding Brian Goggin, following the financial sector collapse in Ireland.

On the day before he entered hospital for treatment, Mr Boucher presided over publication of the bank’s half-year results, which showed it had returned to profit for the first time since the crash, with a pre-tax surplus of €327 million.

Separately, it emerged yesterday that Baillie Gifford & Co increased its stake in Bank of Ireland to 4.01 per cent last Friday. In a regulatory announcement to the stock exchange, Bank of Ireland said the global investment group increased its holding to just under 1.3 billion shares last week from 972.7 million previously.

This included 2.71 per cent managed on behalf of Baillie Gifford clients, according to the announcement. Baillie Gifford has been busy buying Bank of Ireland shares, and passed the 3 per cent threshold on September 8th.

Bank of Ireland’s shares closed down 1.6 per cent in Dublin yesterday at 31.6 cent, having been the most traded stock on the market for the day. Its share price had been on a strong run over the past three weeks, rising by 6.9 per cent.