The value of the Church of Ireland's
shareholding in Allied Irish Bank has plummeted by more than 17m euros
(£14.7m) following the collapse of the institution's share prices.
The Church has seen its stake in AIB dwindle from a high of
17.3m euros to just 262,500 euros (£228,000) because of the shares
wipeout.
At the height of the boom four years ago, shares were priced
at 23 euros (£20) each. On Thursday night prices dropped to a new low of
just 34c (29p) each.
The Church of Ireland is one of the biggest individual shareholders in the AIB with 750,000 shares.
'Not immune'
The Representative Church Body (RCB) manages the Church's shares.
A spokesperson for the RCB said: "The Church of Ireland is
not immune from the very difficult financial environment here in Ireland
and worldwide, the impacts of which are creating major problems for
many people, organisations, and governments.
"In common with the experience of others, invested assets
held for the Church by the RCB have lost a substantial amount of value
in the past few years.
"These investments are in general held for the long term, and
it is expected that, over time, the value of investments should
recover."
Shares in AIB sank to their lowest level since April on
Thursday as news of a new executive chairman failed to re-assure the
markets.
And prices are likely to fall even further when the Irish
government increases its stake in the bank to 90% in December as part of
a 3.7bn euros cash injection by the state.
The Church of Ireland said it will now have to adjust its spending in the wake of the loss of income from share dividends.
The spokesperson added: "The RCB on behalf of the Church seek
to manage ongoing expense commitments to match lower income levels in
the short to medium term, to ensure that the work of the Church
continues through the ongoing economic difficulties."
According to the Irish Independent the Church of Ireland is not the only loser in the share collapse.
The Catholic Church and several charities, including the
Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Children and the
Samaritans, are also reeling from significant losses.
Siobhan Creaton from the Irish Independent said the figures show how the economic collapse has affected all sectors of society.
She added: "Churches and charities are amongst the worst hit.
"The Church of Ireland are one of the single biggest shareholders. It's a huge loss on their investment.
"The church would have also earned very significant dividend
payments on the shares over the years and that would have been used to
fund work in their parishes and the various work they do.
"A lot of individual parishes and charities have also seen shares wiped out and dividends
reduced."
SIC: BBC/INT'L