Bank of Ireland may consider 'bolt-on' acquisitions in the UK

Bank of Ireland may consider "bolt-on" acquisitions in the UK as part of a market consolidation, chief executive Richie Boucher said.

“We’d always have to look at opportunities,” in the UK, Mr Boucher said in an interview in Dublin, adding that the lender isn’t currently in talks.

“It’s certainly something that wouldn’t be on our strategic agenda today. What we would look at is things that would enhance capability, rather than transformational.”

Bank of Ireland, which is partly controlled by the government, resolved to retain its UK unit during the financial crisis, even as it shrank other parts of the balance sheet.

The UK business turned from a “strategic conundrum” to an “opportunity” over the past years, the CEO said, accounting for about 40 per cent of the group’s gross €89.5 billion loan book at the end of last year.

Since taking over as CEO six years ago, Mr Boucher shrank the lender’s balance sheet, cut jobs and gave €6 billion to taxpayers after receiving a €4.8 billion bailout.

Having returned to underlying profit last year for the first time since 2008, the bank expects its loan book to grow, according to Mr Boucher, after contracting 38 per cent during the crisis as the bank sold assets and customers paid back loans.

"At the beginning of 2014, I was asking myself, 'How do I, after five or six years of everything having to come to me, because every decision was life or death,'' step back, Mr Boucher said.

Bloomberg