Ailish O'Hora– 22 October 2013 ALLIED IRISH BANKS is now more 'valuable' than German giant Deutsche Bank based on its current market valuation.On Monday, AIB stock gained over 9.3pc to 15.3c giving the bank a market capitalisation of just under €80bn. Even factoring in a drop in the stock today, this 'false' valuation means AIB is worth more than Deutsche Bank by market cap. The State owns 99.8pc of AIB making just 0.2pc of its shares freely available and it is trade in this limited stock that is driving the valuation up. In addition, AIB is loss-making and no institutional investors have shares in it. By comparision, Bank of Ireland, which is 15pc owned by the State and is expected to be profitable next year, has a market value of €7.8m. There is no logic to the valuation which is likely to be based on hopes the economy is turning a corner and that of Bank of Ireland. Based on a valuation by Goodbody Corporate Finance on behalf of the Government at the end of 2012, AIB shares were worth €0.0079 giving it a market value of €4.1bn.
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