AIB chief Colin Hunt eyes shares worth 100% of salary as bank expected to raise targets

AIB may nudge its 2026 net interest income forecast higher again in an upcoming trading update, with the expected boost from rising interest rates over the next 12 months lifting its shares, as chief executive Colin Hunt is on track to receive stock this year worth 100 per cent of salary. The consensus call among analysts is that AIB will post €3.83 billion of net interest income this year, with Denis McGoldrick, an analyst with AIB’s Goodbody unit, estimating it will top €3.85 billion. AIB projected in July that its net interest income would exceed €3.8 billion this year, up from last year’s €3.75 billion.On Thursday, McGoldrick also raised his AIB net interest income estimates by 2 per cent for the next two years, which would see it reach €4.21 billion in 2028. READ MOREAIB’s shares have risen as much as 23 per cent since it started issuing stock to Hunt and other senior executives in May under a new share awards plan – with no performance conditions attached – to get around a continuing ban on bonuses above €20,000 across Irish banks. AIB revealed in two previously unreported filings with the stock exchange, in May and August, that it had issued a total of 75,010 shares to Hunt under the so-called fixed share allowance scheme. They were valued at a total of €1.02 million when issued, equivalent to 75 per cent of his €1.35 million base salary this year. Hunt sold about 35 per cent of the shares to cover income tax and social security due on the delivery of the shares. AIB had said in March, as it unveiled plans to introduce a share awards plan, that it would be set at a maximum of 100 per cent of salary, but declined at the time to give details on the trajectory to that level. With another quarterly release expected after AIB issues its next trading update in early November, Hunt is on track to hit the 100 per cent level in the first year of the programme. [ Regulator warned Government last year that RTÉ funding was too lowOpens in new window ]Hunt’s annual salary was €500,000 before the Government lifted crisis-era salary restrictions at AIB in June 2025 as it sold its remaining shares in the bank. Bank of Ireland opted for a more gradual approach to fixed share awards when salary caps were removed at that lender as it returned to full private ownership four years ago. Chief executive Myles O’Grady’s allowance has increased in increments from 25 per cent of salary in 2024 to reach a maximum 100 per cent this year. That will bring his fixed pay package to almost €2 million in 2026.The AIB filing in August showed that Hunt was among 10 senior executives to benefit from the share awards, including Geraldine Casey, managing director of retail banking; group chief operating officer Graham Fagan; managing director of capital markets Cathy Bryce; and Mike Frawley, group chief risk officer. Former chief financial officer Donal Galvin received shares in the first issue in May, before handing his notice. Shares in AIB have jumped as much as 29 per cent so far this year to a post-financial-crisis high of €11.85 in late September, leaving it briefly as the most valuable company on the Iseq 20, with a peak market value of €24.4 billion. The shares have since given up a fifth of their gains as central bankers on both sides of the Atlantic pushed back on market expectations of an aggressive series of rate hikes – and as France’s rising debt costs have stoked memories of the euro zone debt crisis. [ Lower-than-expected annual €12,000 investment account limits may curb take-upOpens in new window ]“AIB has introduced a range of benefits over a number of years for all colleagues, including variable remuneration, healthcare benefits and employee share schemes such as the Save As You Earn and Approved Profit Sharing Schemes and the Share Incentive Plan, reflecting our broader approach to attracting, retaining and rewarding employees,” a spokesman for the bank said. “This year, we also introduced a fixed share allowance for our leadership team. AIB remains focused on our customers, delivering our three-year strategy and keeping the bank on a strong and sustainable footing.”