Irish unit helps boost IFG profits

An improved performance by its Irish operations helped boost total group revenue at IFG by 4.6% last year, with pre-tax profits rising by over 3%.

The Dublin-based financial services group — whose core business is conducted in the UK — yesterday reported better-than-expected annual revenues for 2013 of £79.6m (€96.2m); up from £76.2m the previous year. Operating profit was down from £6.2m to £4.6m, but the pension and financial advisory provider’s pre-tax profits jumped by 3.2% to £4.19m, while profit after tax from continuing operations was up by 49% at £3.6m.

In the UK — where IFG delivered first-time net growth from its James Hay SIPP (self-invested personal pensions) business — revenue was up by 2.6% to £63.3m; while in Ireland sales were up by over 13% to £16.32m, as operating losses were slashed by over 60% to £1.31m.