A GROUP of eight senior Bank of Ireland managers have purchased almost €200,000 worth of shares in a vote of confidence in the bank's beleaguered stock.
The managers, including chief executive Brian Goggin and chief financial officer John O'Donovan, each bought about €12,600 worth of shares at €4.51 a unit on Tuesday, according to a stock exchange announcement. Each bought about 2,800 shares.
The management group's joint action helped to lift the share price and the bank was the best performer among Irish bank stocks. The share price closed up 8.2 per cent at €4.89, outperforming the ISEQ index which rose 2 per cent.
The share buyers included director Richie Boucher, head of the retail financial services division in Ireland, Ronan Murphy, head of group risk, and Tony Wyatt, head of group manufacturing (IT and operations).
The head of the capital markets division, Denis Donovan, was the biggest share buyer, purchasing an additional €90,800 worth of shares at €4.54 a unit. His share purchases totalled €103,000.
All but two of the managers - the bank's group secretary John Clifford and head of group legal Finbarr Murphy - are part of the bank's senior executive team.
