Anglo Irish Bank, the lender most exposed to Ireland's property crash and which was nationalised in 2009, said it expected to report a record loss of €17.6bn (£15bn) for 2010.
In a trading update on Tuesday, the bank said this would include a loss of €11.5bn on impaired loans transferred to the National Asset Management Agency, the body set up to take over loans where the developers that borrowed are either bankrupt or cannot repay.
The loss included a provision of €7.8bn set aside to cover other loan losses. The 2010 result would set a record for an Irish company, beating Anglo Irish's €12.7bn loss for the 15 months to the end of 2009.
The bank also said deposits fell from €27.2bn at the end of 2009 to about €11bn at the end of last year. Borrowing from the European Central Bank and Irish Central Bank almost doubled to €45bn. The bank, which has received €29.3bn of state support, expects to transfer another €1.1bn of assets to Nama.
The trading update came as the high court in Dublin said that an auction of the deposits and corresponding assets of Anglo Irish and Irish Nationwide Building Society can take place immediately.
The move follows an application to the court by Brian Lenihan, finance minister, and is the first step in the winding down of the two institutions.
That is required as part of the agreement between Ireland and the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
The €85bn bail-out includes €50bn assigned to cover the cost of public services for three years and €10bn for immediate injection into Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland.
A further €25bn is reserved in case losses at the banks are larger than anticipated.
Judge Brian McGovern said that he was satisfied the minister had complied with the Credit Institutions Stabilisation Act, which gives the government powers to restructure Ireland's crippled banking sector.
The judge also said he was satisfied the steps could be categorised as reorganisation under the relevant EU directive and legislation. Bryan Murray, acting for the minister, said the application was to enable the reorganisation and ensure stability.
The agreement with the EU and IMF requires that Anglo Irish draws up a rationalisation plan by the end of March, including the possible closure of offices in the UK and branches in Vienna, Düsseldorf and Jersey.
The court was told that Anglo Irish and Irish Nationwide were consenting to the directions order. The plan will combine both institutions into a single bank that would be 100 per cent government-owned.
© The Financial Times Limited 2011
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