Nationalised Anglo Irish Bank on Thursday posted a record annual loss of 17.7 billion euros ($25 billion) for 2010, ahead of banking-sector stress test results due for publication later in the day. The loss, which is slightly higher than the 17.6 billion euros that was forecast last month, is a record for an Irish company and compared with a loss of 12.7 billion euros in 2009.
"The bank remains fully government-owned and continues to benefit from ongoing support," it added in the results statement. The shortfall includes impairment charges of 7.8 billion euros and a loss of 11.5 billion euros from asset sales to the National Asset Management Agency - a 'bad bank' set up by the government to stabilise the crippled banking system.
Over the past two years, the government has pumped a total of 29.3 billion euros of public funds into Anglo Irish Bank. Anglo posted its results ahead of the Irish Central Bank's publication of stress tests on four other lenders - Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, the Educational Building Society and Irish Life & Permanent.
The group added Thursday that the record 2010 loss followed "another exceptionally difficult twelve month period for both the bank and the Irish economy". Ireland's banks were particularly hard hit by loan losses on toxic or high-risk property investments, while many homeowners are still struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments.
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