IIB Bank nets €125m in profit
House price growth would "soften" this year, according to IIB Bank, which today announced after-tax profits for last year of €125m.
The prediction was for "modest gains" in house prices in the coming year, said IIB chief executive Ted Marah.
The availability of money from the Government-supported Special Savings Incentives Accounts (SSIA) scheme would support property demand.
A strong increase in net income and budget measures, which were limiting the impact of higher borrowing costs, would also help the property sector.
Overall, the outlook for the economy remained favourable.
Ger White, in charge of Munster operations for the bank said that the bank had showed strong growth in all sectors.
The €125m increase in profits was of 25% above the figure for last year.
Overall, loans and advances grew by 25% in 2006.
The growth was particularly strong in the small to medium (SME) sized sector, where loan volumes grew by almost 30%.
In the homeloans sector, lending volumes grew by 24%.
In the business area, loans grew by almost 30% with strong gains across the health care, hospitality, retail and service sectors.
Lending volumes in business banking in Munster had grown by more than 30%, with a strong focus on innovative lending packages for the SME area, said Mr White.
Staff levels had doubled to cater for the growth of the business arising from their successful relationships, with a range of key businesses in the retail, professional, healthcare, hotel and SME sectors.
IIB Bank, which also has branches in Limerick and Dublin, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Belgian-headquartered KBC Bank and Insurance Group, one of Europe’s leading financial services institutions.
