Bank of Ireland attracts deposits

DUBLIN: Bank of Ireland said it was attracting deposits, cutting costs and expected home loan arrears to peak this year, raising hopes Ireland's biggest lender had turned a corner after a 60 percent drop in underlying profit in 2011.

The only Irish bank to avoid nationalisation after an unprecedented property crash, Bank of Ireland said on Monday low interest rates would make it harder to achieve its goal for a net interest margin - the gap between what it charges for loans and what it pays to borrow - of 2 percent in 2014.

But Chief Executive Richie Boucher was optimistic of progress after the cost of drawing in deposits and an expensive government guarantee of its liabilities trimmed the margin by 13 percentage points to 1.33 percent last year.