Bank profit margins 'set to fall'

RESIDENTIAL mortgage holders will save more that €300 million a year as increased competition erodes the profit margins banks and building societies make, analysts said yesterday.

Central Bank figures show that Irish home owners owe close to €75.536bn on outstanding mortgages and any cut in bank profit margins will deliver massive savings for Irish families.

Goodbody Stockbrokers analyst Eamonn Hughes yesterday said banks' profit spread could fall by as much as 30% by 2007.