AIB | Commercial Profile
Open for Business AIB is responding to demand for credit and lending to SMEs, according to Lucia O’Riordan, Branch Manager at AIB Swords.
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rish SMEs have been through a turbulent time over the past number of years and at AIB we recognise our vital role in lending to our SME customers and fuelling the regrowth of the Irish economy. AIB has undergone major restructuring to ensure that it is lending to viable businesses while making progress with loan arrears and working with customers in difficulty. The bank’s focus on its strategic plan is yielding solid results, with it returning to profitability in 2014. And we believe we are adequately capitalised to meet the demands of an improving economy. AIB exceeded the Government’s €4 billion lending target in 2013 with €4.3bn sanctioned to 32,000 SME customers in new and refinanced facilities. The approval rate for lending applications was 92 per cent for the year. While factors such as consumer sentiment, employment levels and disposable income ultimately dictate the level of demand for credit, our staff are focused on engaging with customers and guiding them in the development of their businesses.” There is a lot of proactive engagement to promote demand for credit against a backdrop of a strong business development focus in our frontline - our team of relationship managers, Gerry Hennigan, Derek Bradley and Trevor Kinsella, who are based in AIB Swords branch, are out there meeting customers on their premises, understanding their needs and supporting their business. In order to support local relationship managers in understanding the needs of our customers, AIB has adopted a sectoral approach to SME lending. The bank is building new sectoral teams with specific skills and expertise to complement our traditional core areas, such as agriculture, and is now establishing dedicated personnel to originate and nurture new business opportunities in areas such as technology media and telecoms (TMT), energy, life sciences, exports, entrepreneurship, hospitality, tourism and property. The bank has revised its SME lending structures,
AIB has established itself as the leading Irish bank for SME start-ups, supporting around 50,000 jobs in the last three years.” launched targeted funds and has detailed engagement with SME customers across all key sectors of the economy. We are also making funds available to stimulate and support many of these sectors, with a €1 billion fund committed to the energy sector by 2017, a €350m new residential homes fund along with a €500m agri fund. AIB’s volume of new money approvals rose by 22 per cent last year and we are seeing this positive trend continuing through the earlier part of 2014. Increased levels of new money sanction activity grew across a range of sectors including wholesale/retail, agriculture and transport. AIB has established itself as the leading Irish bank for SME start-ups, supporting
around 50,000 jobs in the last three years. The bank has the number one market share for new start-ups seeking banking facilities and has launched a number of initiatives including a business Start-up Academy in partnership with The Irish Times. This is a very important year. Sentiment and confidence are returning to the market and continuing to build. We are seeing that dynamic in terms of demand for credit, and we in AIB are fully committed, working extremely hard and responding to meet that demand and support our customers and Ireland’s recovery.
AIB LENDING: THE NUMBERS •€ 4.3bn sanctioned to 32,000 SME customers in 2013 •V olume of new money approvals rose by 22 per cent in 2013 •H as supported around 50,000 start-up jobs in the last three years •€ 1bn fund committed to the energy sector by 2017 •€ 500m fund commited to the agri sector
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