Irish Nationwide Building Society this morning reported a 20 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to €117 million for the end of 2003.
The company said lending increased by 72 per cent over the same period up to €1.791 billion last year compared to €1.042 billion the previous year. The company's loan book stood at €4.248 billion at the end of 2003.
Irish Nationwide said its reserves grew 21.5 per cent €532 million. The company's cost-income ratio reached a new low of 21.4 per cent last year.
Mr Michael Fingleton, Irish Nationwide's managing director, said: "It is particularly satisfying that in achieving this strong growth the Society significantly increased its profitability to record levels".
Mr Fingleton said there has been a strong start to the residential property market this year with indications of another record year of supply to meet continuing strong demand.
And he anticipated heightened competition in the deposit market as financial institutions seek to grow their deposit bases. "You can expect better and better rates to be offered to depositors as the competition intensifies," he said.