Strong results for ICS, pretax profits up 17%

Bank of Ireland-owned ICS Building Society has said that pre-tax profits increased by 17% to under €80m for 2003.

The rise was driven by strong growth in mortgage lending, with ICS's mortgage book growing by nearly 27% to €3.4bn.

The building society outperformed the Irish mortgage market which recorded mortgage book growth of 25.5% in 2003

ICS said its retail chain, the Mortgage Store, had a strong year and that its new store in Dublin's IFSC, which is its tenth, was performing ahead of expectations.

During 2003, new mortgage advances rose 25.6% to €1.169bn. The mortgage book was up 26.9% to €3.429bn.

Net mortgage lending rose 17.4% to €727m.

Looking ahead, Managing Director Joe Larkin said: "The anticipated level of house building predicted for 2004 should result in the stabilisation of the price of new houses, which is to be welcomed."