AIB CEO wants Govt to float bank earlier than planned
AIB chief executive Bernard Byrne has urged the Government to return the State-owned lender to the stock markets by summer, rather than delaying until the second half of 2017.
According to the Irish Independent, Byrne made the case that all the requirements were in place for it to sell a near-€3bn stake in the bank successfully.
Speaking after AIB's annual general meeting in Dublin yesterday, he stressed "our bias is to encourage something to happen" between mid-May and early June.
He said: "If you look at the things necessary to get an IPO away – an attractive equity market, business performing pretty well, the Irish economy performing well and the intention politically to get it done – they're all there. So right now they all align."
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Michael Noonan moved to allay fears that the snap UK election in June will delay AIB's stock market flotation, noting that the IPO had always been scheduled for some time between mid-May and early July and that the election "doesn't change the window", though he did not get more specific.
