Banking
Bank of Ireland CEO Myles O’Grady. Photo: Naoise Culhane
The high number of people moving to Ireland could boost Bank of Ireland’s potential customer base, the bank’s CEO has said.
Myles O’Grady, the BoI chief executive, made the comment during investment bank Barclays’ Global Financials Conference in New York last week.
The inflow of immigrants to Ireland stood at 149,200 in the year to April 2024
Investment analysts at Barclays said O’Grady noted the Irish economy was resilient and growing – outperforming many eurozone countries, with supportive demographic trends.
Among the positive demographic trends was the inflow of immigrants to Ireland, which stood at 149,200 in the year to April 2024 according to the CSO. O’Grady noted the inflow each year was providing a growing potential customer base for the bank, said the analyst note.
O’Grady also said that growth in housing stock would support lending. Corporate sentiment had also improved after a period of significant deleveraging.
Backed by lending growth, structural hedging and deposit growth, O’Grady also said he expected net interest income, a key driver of bank profitability, to be broadly stable next year.
On competition, O’Grady believed it was natural to expect ongoing entrants to the market, given the attractiveness of the Irish banking backdrop.
He said BoI would compete with these digital entrants, but would behave commercially, highlighting a strong track record of pricing discipline.
O’Grady also mentioned high digital adoption rates at the bank and a new mobile banking app for next year. However, the new app is expected to be more of an improvement on the current iteration rather than an entirely new service.