ABN-AMRO suggests that Bank of Ireland may now be a better bet for investors than AIB. The brokers have issued a hold recommendation on AIB ahead of half-year results from its US subsidiary and its possible removal from the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index.

Based on the current valuation of Irish banks, ABN-AMRO says investors should still remain overweight in Irish financial stocks in general. However, within that sector, it prefers Bank of Ireland saying it offers a more compelling valuation argument. In the short-term it suggests AIB may lag behind ahead of expected poor numbers from its US operations and may also suffer from its expected removal from the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 Index in August.