Bank of Ireland sees profit for first time since 2008

Bank of Ireland (BOI), one of the traditional "big four" Irish banks, on Friday reported a profit for the first time since the financial crisis in 2008.

In its annual report for 2014, the bank posted underlying profit of 921 million euros (1.03 billion U.S. dollars), with all trading divisions now profitable, compared to a loss of 564 million euros in 2013.

Its gross new lending to customers in 2014 was 10 billion euros, an increase of over 50 percent.

It became largest lender to the Irish economy during 2014, with 5.7 billion euros in new lending, while its UK mortgage lending more than doubled.

Richie Boucher, the bank's CEO, said he is confident about the bank's prospects.

"The outlook for the Irish and UK economies remains favorable. We have our strong retail and commercial franchises in these markets and we have resilient and professional people, who are motivated and focused and have a proven track record of delivery," he said.

"The combination of these factors gives me confidence in our ability to responsibly deliver attractive and sustainable returns to our shareholders," he added.

In February 2009, the Irish government announced a 7 billion euros rescue package for the bank and Allied Irish Banks PLC, as their bad loan losses soared after the collapse of a domestic real-estate bubble.

The bank is the only one of the country's six largest lenders to have moved on from state control. The government sold a 34.9 percent stake in 2011 to five investors. ( 1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars) Enditem