Investors who took up shares in the recent placing by Bank of Ireland are now nursing a paper loss of 63 1/2p per share. But in a good example of fortuitous timing, the bank has managed to raise the £200 million it sought from investors to help fund the £274 million acquisition of the New Ireland life assurance company. Earlier this month the bank announced a placing of 23.5 million shares to raise £200 million. At 846 1/2p per share, the placing price was struck at a 5 per cent discount to the market price of 891p before the announcement of the fundraising on October 14th. Last night Bank of Ireland shares closed at 783p, down 75p on Friday's closing level, as financial stocks were badly battered in the wake of Wall Street's crash on Monday when Dublin was closed for the holiday. Shareholders who bought in under the placing at 846 1/2p have seen their shares fall 63 1/2p.

The stock was fully taken up within hours of the placing announcement and settlements were made within five to 10 days, a bank spokesman said yesterday. A high proportion of the new shares were taken up by existing Bank of Ireland shareholders, he said.

Some new names have come on to the share register, he added.