Allied Irish 'on road to recovery'

ALLIED Irish Banks, rocked by a £480m rogue-trader scandal only a few months ago, today delivered an upbeat half-year trading statement saying it would achieve 'mid-single-digit growth' at the interim stage.

The bank said this level of growth would be sustained for the whole of 2002. AIB admitted business activity was affected by its US foreign exchange fiasco but said: 'Business is now steadily recovering from the damage inflicted by the fraud.'

The group is reviewing the way it monitors risk and governance issues and said it intends to implement a programme that will ensure its meets shareholder and regulatory expectations.

Allfirst, the US subsidiary where the fraud was carried out, 'is showing resilience and encouraging trends'.

The pipeline of business in Britain is at record levels and profits in Poland are expected to improve significantly in 2002.