Michael Murray: Irish bank shareholders are bracing themselves for disappointing news with upcoming results

Ireland's Central Bank Pic: RollingNews.ie

A combination of a still sizeable taxpayer investment in the Irish banking sector, the implications of Brexit, and the continued ECB programme of quantitative easing will combine to provide disappointing messages for shareholders in Ireland’s banks in the week ahead. The capacity for net new capital formation is now seriously constrained for both AIB and Bank of Ireland.

Both banks will, however, be able to report decent rises in lending activity over the ...