ICS announce increase in pre-tax profits 26/04/2007 - 16:13:55
ICS Building Society has today announced a 13.6% increase in 2006 pre-tax profits to €128.8m.
Speaking at the Society's 143rd annual general meeting today, chairman John Collins stated that the society's mortgage book increased from €5.2bn in 2005 to €6.2bn in 2006.
“In 2006, the society delivered another excellent performance in what was a year of significant competitive activity in the marketplace,” he said. “The Society's profits before tax increased by nearly 14% to almost €129m, our new mortgage lending also increased by 14% to €2.0bn and our mortgage book increased by 20% to €6.2bn.”
ICS achieved a market share of 4.9% in 2006, winning 5.2% of new mortgage lending.
The society's new mortgage lending increased by 14% from €1.722bn in 2005 to €1.963bn in 2006.
When combined owner Bank of Ireland, ICS have the largest share of mortgage lending in Ireland.
Profit growth was also driven by an improvement in the society's cost income ratio, which fell from 20.3% in 2005 to 19.1% in 2006, according to the company.
“Importantly, these cost efficiencies have been achieved while maintaining the excellent quality of customer service that has been a cornerstone of the society's business for many years," said Mr Collins.
Commenting on rising interest rates and the impact that this is having on the mortgage market, Mr Collins said: "We have seen a slowdown in property price inflation in recent months and, following a 10-year period in which average prices have increased by circa 15% per annum, we expect prices to increase by circa 3% in 2007.
“This is good news for house buyers, especially first time buyers and represents the soft landing that we have been predicting."
While stating that rising interest rates have also led to a slowdown in market demand for new mortgages in recent months, Mr Collins believes that the outlook for the market is positive.
“With price inflation slowing, and as we near the peak of the interest rate cycle, we expect demand for new mortgages in the Irish market to be strong in 2007.” he said.
