Bank of Ireland says may ask for more state help

DUBLIN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Bank of Ireland (BKIR.I: Quote, Profile, Research) may have to ask the government to inject more capital after it transfers up to 16 billion euros ($23.6 billion) of loans to a planned "bad bank", it said as it posted an underlying first-half loss.

Ireland's biggest bank by assets and market value said it would prefer to raise additional capital from private sources, adding that a failure to launch the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) would hit its funding.

"The risk appetite among the international funding markets for Ireland and Irish financial institutions, including Bank of Ireland, could be adversely affected by any uncertainties that could arise if NAMA was not to proceed as expected," said the lender which has received 3.5 billion euros of capital from the state in return for a 25 percent indirect stake. (Reporting by Andras Gergely, editing by Will Waterman) ($1=.6782 Euro)