'tis the season for annual reports, most of which of course, we bin. Occasionally I read them. As a result, I've learned stuff about Dermot Gleeson, for example, Chairman of Allied Irish Bank. He says we've all been suffering from "turbulence," which had a "strength and ferocity" that "took most people by surprise." You'd have thought that the chairman of a bank might be giving himself airs, that he might not consider himself in the same category as "most people," but no, there he is, equating himself with us, just another poor subject of ferocious turbulence. Personally I'm heartened not only by this egalitarian spirit but also by the stoicism of his near-peer...oh what the heck, we're all in this together...his peer, Eugene Sheehy, Group Chief Executive. What do I mean by stoicism? Sheehy's the kind of man who takes it on the chin, says it like it is, wears his provisions on his sleeve. His company has lost ninety percent of its value. This he calls, "disappointing," as in "2008 was a very disappointing year for AIB. We did see good growth in operating profit before provisions but net profit and earnings per share were significantly down on 2007 levels. There also was a decrease in our share price of close to 90% in 2008."
"Provisions" is short of "provisions for loan impairment." Carry on. David Ritchie, Portland, Oregon ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
