Bank of Ireland has recorded a loss of 1.8 billion euros (£1.6bn) for 2012 as it wrote-off more bad loans due to the property crash.
The bank took 1.7 billion euros in impairment charges, versus 1.9 billion in 2011, of which 462 million euros was on mortgages and 797 milliom on construction and property loans.
The BBC reports these charges dragged the bank, in which the state has a stakerof 15%, into the red for the year. In 2011 it turned a profit of 40 million euro profit due to a debt write-off.
Chief executive Richie Boucher said there were signs of stabilisation in the Irish economy, with modest growth in economic output and a levelling off of unemployment.
As a result, the number of customers defaulting on mortgages and loans was still going up, but at a slower rate.
The bank was also hit by the cost of redundancies, which totalled 150 million euros. About 1200 employees had taken voluntary redundancy since May. More are set to leave in 2013.
