Anglo Irish Bank is world's top performer

ANGLO Irish Bank has emerged as the world's top performing bank over the past five years. The Irish business lender just shaded United Health Group, a $70bn capitalised American health company, at the head of the global rankings for the period 2001-05.

Cyril Hardiman

ANGLO Irish Bank has emerged as the world's top performing bank over the past five years.

The Irish business lender just shaded United Health Group, a $70bn capitalised American health company, at the head of the global rankings for the period 2001-05.

The rankings are compiled by Mercer Oliver Wyman (MOW), a consultant in financial services strategy and risk management consulting as part of its annual assessment of the world's financial services industry, 'State of the Financial Services Industry' launched yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

On MOW's shareholder performance index (SPI), Anglo headed the global five-year list, while the bank also ranked third-highest in the 2005 ratings of mid-cap companies, those with a market value of less than $10bn. This is not the first time Anglo has shone in global rankings.

Global

The bank's share price increased by more than 300pc from ?3.14 to ?12.90 in the 2001-05 period, but this increases to a hugely-impressive 800pc if dividends earned in the period were reinvested in the stock.

According to MOW "the global financial services industry grew by 15pc in 2005 to reach a new record high of $8.7trillion and the sector remains on track to triple in value within a decade".

The report revealed that over three-fifths of financial services ceos expect an upturn in strategic, selective M&A activity this year, and there has been a substantial shift towards new markets to provide opportunities for future growth. European ceos in particular show a relatively high interest in cross-border acquisitions, as opportunities for consolidation in more mature markets become increasingly limited.

Meanwhile, banking group Lloyds TSB announced yesterday that its new chairman would be Victor Blank, who said this week that he would retire as chairman at newspaper group Trinity Mirror.

Blank, who became chairman of the Mirror Group in 1998, oversaw the merger with Trinity the next year to create Britain's largest newspaper group.

The company announced on Monday that he would retire in May.

Blank will then take Maarten van der Bergh's position on the Lloyds TSB board, when van der Bergh will retire.

Blank is also chairman of the retail and financial services group GUS.

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