Interim Report 2008 (PDF, 257KB) - Anglo Irish Bank

The Capital Requirements Directive/Basel II became effective on 1 January 2008.
Our capital requirements are currently calculated using the Standardised method
pending a move to the Internal Ratings Based approach.
The annuity and low volatility nature of the Group’s income stream and its efficient
cost structure result in consistent capital generation. We expect our core equity ratio
to further strengthen in the second half of the year. In addition, the Bank does not
need to raise Tier 1 or Tier 2 debt capital before late 2009.
Credit ratings
External independent rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, Fitch and
Dominion Bond Rating Service have each recently reviewed and reaffirmed all of our
ratings with a stable outlook.
Dividend growth
The Board maintains its progressive dividend policy, declaring a 20% increase in the
Bank’s interim dividend to 7.78 cent per ordinary share.
The dividend will be paid on 15 July 2008 to shareholders on the Bank’s register as
at close of business on 16 May 2008. Withholding tax may apply on the dividend
depending on the tax status of each shareholder. Shareholders will again be offered
the opportunity of receiving dividends in the form of cash or shares.
People
I take this opportunity to thank our people for their outstanding contribution during
these challenging times for the banking sector. Their collective commitment reaffirms
my belief in our unique culture of ownership and delivery and gives me great
confidence for the Group’s performance in the years ahead.
Outlook
We maintain full year guidance of 15% earnings per share growth. However, there
continues to be risk to profitability across the banking sector associated with further
financial market disruption and the potential impact of a protracted deterioration in
the wider economic climate.
Prudent management of asset quality and strict liquidity discipline are our primary
areas of focus in the current environment. We will continue to invest and create
additional capacity in our diversified funding franchise. We anticipate that lending
growth will be in the region of €10 billion for the full year, supported by current
lending work-in-progress of €6.8 billion. As always, this will be funded through
customer deposits and longer term debt.