Bank of Ireland reports 11-pct decrease in 2016 profits

 The Bank of Ireland made an underlying profit of 1.07 billion euros (1.13 billion U.S. dollars) last year, down 11 percent from the 1.2-billion-euro profit of the previous year, according to the bank's annual results published on Friday.

The bank, which is 14 percent owned by the government, said it would not pay shareholders a dividend until 2018.

The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank in Ireland and one of the traditional "Big Four" Irish banks.

Richie Boucher, the bank's CEO, said the bank remained the largest lender to the Irish economy, providing 6.7 billion euros of new credit to customers in Ireland.

He said the bank had continued to reduce its non-performing loans by 4.1 billion euros or 34 percent since December 2015 and that its impairment charges had continued to fall.

"Our business is performing in line with the strategic objectives we have set ourselves. All trading divisions are profitable and have contributed to our strong financial performance during the period," Boucher said.

But he admitted political events, in particular the British decision to leave the European Union, may bring impact on the banks's customers and business growth in the coming years. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars)

Source: Xinhua