State-owned bank AIB says it's on track to hit its target of returning to pre-provision operating profit in 2013.
According to its interim management statement, actions taken in 2012 have delivered an improvement in the Bank's overall operating performance in the first quarter of 2013.
Management says cutting staff costs has been particularly effective.
A statement issued by AIB states "Product repricing has had a continued positive effect on the net interest margin in the first quarter, the second consecutive quarter of progress on NIM. This repricing and the ending of the Eligible Liabilities Guarantee Scheme for new liabilities announced on 26 February and effective as of 28 March 2013 are expected to benefit operating income for the remainder of 2013 and beyond.
The bank's also pointing to ongoing progress in deleveraging and growth in customer accounts as a driver to continued improvement in the Group’s loan to deposit ratio.
AIB's loan portfolios are also performing in line with expectations and its bad debt provisions for this year will be significantly lower than in 2012 - based on expected economic performance.
Use of Monetary Authority funding has further reduced by €2.6bn since December 2012 to €19.6bn as of end March 2013.
The bank says it's continuing to offer sustainable permanent solutions for mortgage and SME customers in financial difficulty.
AIB says it is committed to meeting or exceeding targets set by the Central Bank of Ireland in relation to mortgage arrears.
