Spectacular first half for Anglo
The results beat even the most optimistic forecasts and quashed any lingering doubts about the bank's ability to cope without former chief executive Sean FitzPatrick.
The markets were pleased with the news and drove the share price up 9%.
The bank's loan book continued to bound ahead in the six months to March, growing E4.3 billion to hit nearly E29 billion. There was further good news in the pipeline as the level of loans approved but not yet drawn down stood at 4.9 billion at the end of the period. This was up from E4.1 billion at the end of September and provides a strong springboard for future business.
Chief executive David Drumm, who took over the reins when Mr FitzPatrick stepped down to become chairman in January, said the results were "phenomenal" and showed the strength of the bank's business model.
"This has been an excellent performance," said Mr Drumm.
"Record loan growth, stable lending margins and robust asset quality underlie these results. In addition, our treasury and wealth management divisions continued to generate high quality revenue and profit growth."
The bank's net interest margin, which measures the difference between the price paid for money and the rate charged to borrowers, remained stable at 1.84%. The bank dismissed concerns over the quality of its loans with news that bad debts accounted for just 0.55% of total lending, down from 0.61% six months ago.
Earnings per share surged 30% to 66.7c, while the interim dividend will be 20% higher at 4.51c. The cost-to-income ratio remained the envy of other banks at 27%, which was 1% lower than last year's figure and around half the level of the country's high-street banks.
All sections of the business did well during the six months. Ireland accounted for 59% of profits, with 32% coming from Britain and 9% from the bank's operations in the northeastern United States. It also has a smaller presence in Austria and Switzerland.
Mr Drumm promised more of the same in the future and said the bank would continue to focus on sectors and markets that it knew best. He said new international financial reporting standards would have an "absolutely minimal" effect on results when the bank switched over to the new reporting regime next year. Some analysts recently questioned the bank's failure to update the market on the impact of the standards.
The bank also took on more staff to cope with its growing workload. Total headcount went up by 17%, which Mr Drumm said represented a significant investment in people that demonstrated confidence in the future.
