Analysis

Donal MacNamee: Why sticky US inflation might be good news for AIB shareholders

Retail bank will fear cooling mortgage market and increased competition but cheer US Fed’s decision to hold interest rates high

Colin Hunt (left), AIB’s chief executive and Jim Pettigrew, its chairman, at the bank’s AGM last week. Picture: Fergal Phillips

For AIB shareholders, last Friday would have been a day of mixed emotions.

On the one hand, the retail bank was able to announce to the market another share buyback from the state. Its €1 billion purchase from the Department of Finance means the state now only owns a 32.6 per cent stake – down from 71 per cent at the start of 2022.

Colin Hunt, the bank’s chief executive, has openly speculated that a ...