For Immediate Release 26th July 2011
Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c.
Annual General Meeting
EXECUTIVE Chairman Mr. DAVID HODGKINSON's Speech
("AIB") (NYSE: AIB) Chairman's speech to AIB Annual General
Meeting in AIB Group, Bankcentre, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland
Check against delivery
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome now to our
Annual General Meeting.
My name is David Hodgkinson, and I am the Executive Chairman of
AIB.
We have a quorum, so I now formally open the Meeting.
The Notice of the Meeting was posted to Shareholders on the 2nd
of July 2011, and so I will dispense with its formal reading.
I'm joined on the platform on my far right by Paul Stanley, our
Acting Chief Financial Officer, to my immediate right by Bernard
Byrne, Director of Personal & Business Banking, to my immediate
left by David O'Callaghan, our Company Secretary, and on my far
left by Bryan Sheridan, our Group Law Agent.
The other Directors are present in the room, with the exception
of Mr. Collier, who sends his apologies.
The first formal part of our proceedings is the Auditor's Report
to the Members. This is set out on pages 355 and 356 of our 2010
Annual Financial Report, which was sent to shareholders who
requested it. Copies of the full Report were also available on the
way into this afternoon's meeting.
As you are aware, the Auditor's Report has been increasing in
length in recent years. While Ms. Niamh Marshall of our Auditor,
KPMG, is present here this afternoon, I propose that, with the
consent of the Meeting, we take the Auditor's Report as read.
Thank you.
I am conscious that there are shareholders attending this
meeting who were not present at our EGM this morning so, with the
indulgence of those who were in attendance this morning, I wish to
repeat a number of my earlier comments.
In my capacity as your Chairman, I want to repeat very clearly
that my colleagues on the AIB Board, and I, wish to express our
deep regret to all our shareholders for the events which have led
us to the position we are in today, and for the need for the
further State support upon which we deliberated this morning.
We remain acutely conscious of the enormous erosion in
shareholder value which has occurred and the real hardship for many
shareholders brought about as a result. It has to be said yet
again, so that we cannot forget, that serious mistakes were made in
this Bank which can't be allowed to happen again.
The Government has had to put an enormous amount of taxpayers'
money into AIB in order that we can help put things right both for
our customers and the wider economy.
So AIB exists today on the strength of the support of the Irish
Government on behalf of taxpayers.
I will again put on record our acknowledgement of, and gratitude
for, that support and for the key role that the Government and
taxpayers continue to play in helping us deal with the
unprecedented events which this Company faces.
In return, the Government rightly expects rigorous governance,
protection of its investment and appropriate behaviour by the
Company's board and management.
Also too, that the bank should play as big a part as it can in
the recovery of the economy.
I can tell you that my Board colleagues, Senior Management and
I, all subscribe to the Government's expectations and, so, the Bank
is going through an extensive restructuring programme that
incorporates organisational size, staff, business focus, culture
and governance, all of which is designed to prevent a repeat of the
disastrous and far reaching crisis.
However, I am also realistic about the scale of the challenge
and it will take time to get us to where we need to be, but I am
confident that our efforts will ultimately be successful.
Since I met with you here in November last year, there have been
many developments which have significantly altered the fabric of
AIB.
The level of change is apparent in that there is no member of
the executive committee, the bank's top executive team, that was in
office before 2010. At Board level, following this AGM, there will
not be any Board members remaining that were in place prior to
2009.
Top management appointments have now been made following a very
rigorous selection process which has closely examined people's
leadership values and behaviours.
We have a good mix of people from inside and outside AIB with
many internal AIB people taking on new or changed
responsibilities.
We have moved to change the structure of the organisation to put
customers at the heart of what we do. The customer facing
businesses are being supported centrally by specialist functions
and services.
Following these changes, AIB will have a strong foundation from
which a profitable business can be rebuilt and will be well
positioned in the market as one of the two pillar domestic Irish
banks.
And our intention is to achieve these changes without losing
sight of our key objectives of supporting our customers through
this challenging period and helping to revitalise the national
economy.
To achieve our objectives, we require capital.
We are now nearing the end of a long sequence of capital raising
actions that have included business acquisitions and disposals, and
the repurchase of virtually all of our subordinated debt at a
significant discount. Earlier today, we sought shareholder approval
for the final act in the recapitalisation of AIB and EBS.
Should the resolutions be approved today, and arising from the
issue of the new shares, the Government will own 99.8% of the total
issued Ordinary Shares.
By strengthening the Group's capital position, the Directors
believe that the Proposals should facilitate the Group's objective
of providing for a sustainable future as a systemically important
bank, which will continue to support our customers and contribute
to economic recovery.
We now come to the formal part of the meeting, where we consider
and vote upon the resolutions, and hear questions and comments from
the floor.
My intention is to allow as many people as possible to speak and
to try and respond to your questions and comments as clearly as I
possibly can...
- ENDS-
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Source: Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1533514]
For further information please contact: Alan Kelly Director of
Corporate Affairs & Marketing AIB Group Dublin Tel: ?1-6412162
email: Email Contact Ronan Sheridan Group Press Officer AIB Group
Dublin Tel: ?1-6414651 email: Email Contact
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