Banking on the short-term — The government is selling 'part' of its 13.9% stake in Bank of Ireland. But why now?

Image: Leah Farrell Image: Leah Farrell EVEN BY ITS own lofty standards, the degree of upheaval in the Irish retail bank sector over the past 12 months has been remarkable.So yesterday, when the Department of Finance announced plans to sell at least some of the State’s remaining 13.9% stake in Bank of Ireland over the next six months, it almost felt a little quaint.

In June of last year, BoI shares were being sold at around €2.05, close to a four-year low. This was about a month after the Francesca McDonagh-headed lender published interim results showing a €21 million loss for the first quarter after the bank set aside €421 million to deal with a potential wave of Covid-linked loan defaults.

BoI is in talks with KBC Bank about acquiring the Belgian lender’s deposits and its €9 billion loan book. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Donohoe roundly denied that the KBC negotiations or Ulster Bank’s exit had anything to do with his decision to begin the process now. “The value of her shareholding [in BoI] back in 2017 was €1.1 billion,” Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty told the RTÉ News at One yesterday.

If BoI manages to close the KBC deal and emerge victorious in its scramble for Davy Stockbrokers, the bank’s share price could be in for a further lift in the coming weeks and months. The Financial Services Union has queried the decision, coming as it has after 12 months of huge upheaval for the sector.

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