(Bloomberg) -- The Irish state is on course to finish selling its stake in AIB Group Plc next year, according to the lender’s chief executive officer, allowing the bank to turn the page on its bailout during the global financial crisis.
“It is within the bounds of possibility that we will see the Irish government exiting the share register in calendar 2025,” Colin Hunt said in a Bloomberg TV interview, welcoming what he said is ultimately a government decision.
The bank agreed to buy back €500 million ($544 million) of government shares in September, reducing the state’s holding to approximately 22%, compared to the 71% it held at the beginning of 2022.
That buyback brought the total amount returned to the state so far this year to €3 billion ($3.3 billion), a boon that Finance Minister Jack Chambers has said will be ringfenced for investing in Ireland’s critical infrastructure like housing and the energy grid.
The government has considered removing the crisis-era bonus cap for AIB, saying the running of banks is ultimately a commercial matter, but no final decision has been made. Hunt said the curbs are making AIB less attractive as an employer.
“If you have a situation where even someone in their early career looks at opportunities of joining a company with unrestricted remuneration and a company with restrictive renumeration, it’s not an unreasonable to expect that individual make a decision that creates better earnings opportunities for them over the medium term,” he said. “It does create an uneven playing field.”
AIB’s €29 billion bailout was one of several Irish rescues after the 2008 crash. As well as selling its remaining AIB stake, Ireland is preparing to wind down the National Asset Management Agency, established to handle troubled loans, by the end of next year. Ireland’s economy has recovered in recent years, partly thanks to record growth in corporation tax receipts, with budget surpluses and even plans for a sovereign wealth fund.
--With assistance from Anna Edwards, Lizzy Burden and Kriti Gupta.
(Updates to add video.)
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