ILP profits up 25% to €449m

Irish Life and Permanent has reported after-tax profits of €449m for 2007, up 25% - before minority - from the year before.

The bank saw a 3% dip in bank loans in the year, issuing a total value of €12.4bn in the year, down from €12.9bn in 2006.

ILP's said its mortgage loans book had a value of €26.4bn at the end of the year, up 14% from the 2006 value of €23.1bn.

The bank said today that its market saw some "very challenging times…particularly in the second half of the year…The turbulence experienced in the global credit and equity markets sparked by the US sub-prime crisis and the impact which that has had on the world financial landscape is unparalleled in recent memory."

Howver, ILP added the overall economy continued to perform strongly in Ireland throughout 2007 with GDP growth estimated at 5%.

"All of our businesses benefited from this, recording strong product growth with the exception of Irish residential mortgages where the Irish housing sector, after a decade of unprecedented growth, witnessed a correction which saw house prices decline by an average 7%," the bank said in a statement.