Ailing bank Abbey National, whose share price slump has made it the subject of takeover speculation, has said it would have an "open mind" to any merger opportunities.
"We are working extremely hard to do all the things we can do to improve shareholder value," finance director Mr Stephen Hester told reporters today.
"At the same time, if anyone were to approach us with something that looked great to our shareholders, we would be the first people to want to put it to them if we thought it offered them a better deal," he added.
Bank of Ireland has been touted as a possible bidder although analysts say any takeover deal would be hard to execute in a bear market.
Britain’s second biggest mortgage lender said today that pre tax profits for the six months ending June 30th fell 34 per cent from last year to £697 million, due to rising bad loans at its corporate lending unit.
Abbey's woeful performance has made it the subject of takeover speculation, but Abbey said it aimed to "thoroughly challenge" its cost base and focus on its retail financial services to turn around the business.