THE management at Anglo Irish Bankcorp this week exuded a sense of quiet satisfaction at having achieved ambitious short-term growth targets ahead of schedule. Chairman Gerry Murphy and chief executive Sean FitzPatrick, in presenting the annual results, said that three years ago the bank set a target of doubling the asset base within five years. Already, that target had been "comfortably exceeded".
Net profits have been on a steadily rising curve since the £5 million returned in 1992. Last year net profits surged 33 per cent to just under £19 million, a faster rate of growth than profits at the pre-tax level due to the lower tax charge. At the pre-tax level, profits added 26 per cent to £24 million in the year to end September last. Advances grew 36 per cent to £1.5 billion and the deposit base widened 30 per cent to £2.1 billion.
Anglo is in a strong financial position and the company says it has the capacity to fund the acquisition of loan portfolios of up to £1 billion.
With earnings per share rising to 7.46p, shareholders receive a 10 per cent improvement in total dividends of 3.7p a share with the prospect of dividend growth more in line with earnings in the years ahead.
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