Bank Of Ireland 1st Half Net Profit -73%, Outlook "Challenging"

By Quentin Fottrell Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES DUBLIN -(Dow Jones)- Bank of Ireland PLC (IRE) Wednesday said first-half net plummeted 73% due to restructuring and impairment charges, the country's economic and financial crisis and the slump in the property market. The bank posted a net profit of EUR168 million in the six months to Sept. 30, 2009, down from a net profit of EUR628 million a year earlier. Chief Executive Richie Boucher said, "There are some indications of a slowdown in the pace of economic decline in the U.K. and to some extent in Ireland." But he said the outlook remains "challenging." It reported an interim underlying pretax loss of EUR979 million - which strips out non-core items that include the gain on the repurchase of non-core Tier 1 debt securities of EUR1.04 billion - versus a EUR647 profit a year earlier. Total income fell 14% to EUR1.73 billion versus EUR2.0 billion for the same period last year. Basic earnings per share in the first half fell 96% to 2.4 cents from 63.2 cents a year earlier. At Tuesday's close, Bank of Ireland was down 12% at EUR1.40 on the Irish Stock Exchange; analysts remain concerned over its loan losses. It is down from EUR2.10 from this time last year and EUR11.82 two years ago. -By Quentin Fottrell, Dow Jones Newswires; 353-1-676-2189; quentin.fottrell@dowjones.com