THE CENTRAL BANK of Ireland has reported an annual profit of €1.2 billion for 2011.
The bank’s annual report, published this morning, shows that it returned €958 million to the exchequer for its year’s activities, up from €671 million in 2010, when profits had stood at €841 million.
Profits would have been even higher, but for the bank’s decision to set aside a €300 million fund to cover any potential shortfall from its monetary policy operations, which it said had become more volatile since the onset of the debt crisis.
Most if its profit came from commercial lending to individual banks.
The bank’s total assets are down from €204 million in 2010 to €176 million last year, with significant falls in the size of the bank’s loan book to banks in the eurozone area, which fell from €132 billion to €107 billion.
The value of the bank’s gold reserve and claims rose from €203 million to €234 million, however.
The number of banknotes and coins produced by the bank both fell, with the bank producing 337 million banknotes and 176 million coins in 2011.
The report further details that financial regulator Matthew Elderfield has the highest salary of any employee in the bank, earning €340,000 as a deputy governor – over €60,000 more than the governor, Patrick Honohan, who last year earned €276,324.
Stefan Gerlach, the new deputy governor responsible for central banking appointed in September, receives a salary of €250,000.
The report indicates that Honohan is to waive €63,324 of his salary this year, meaning a wage before taxes of €213,000.
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