McInerney Holdings, the house builder, has made a pre-tax profit of £5.7 million (€7.3 million) for the six months to June, a 57 per cent increase on the profit of £3.6 million (€4.6 million) made in the same period in 1998. The profit includes £470,000 (€600,000) made from the sale of an office property in Parliament Street, Dublin.

Turnover in the period increased by 48 per cent, from £26.8 million (€34 million) to £39.6 million (€50 million), ahead of brokers' expectations, due to high numbers of house completions "and some higher value house completions in Dublin and Cork". The average price of its house units has increased by 37 per cent, from £76,000 to £104,000 and McInerney's housing division contributed €7 million (£5.5 million) to its pre-tax profit. Mr Barry O'Connor, McInerney's managing director, said a profit margin of 17.5 per cent had been achieved in the six months although this would not be sustainable for the remainder of the year. The profit margin had been "skewed", he said, by the completion of a housing development in Rathfarnham and Swords, in the Dublin area, with an average price of £141,000 before 12.5 per cent VAT. The average price for a house in Cork was £109,000, in Waterford, £76,000, and in the mid-west, £88,000. Total housing completions came to 299 units, compared to 246 units in the same period last year. Of the 299 units, 94 were built in the Dublin area, but just 52 were built in Dublin in 1998.

Mr O'Connor said that the group was "comfortable enough" with the targets it has set itself for the remainder of the year. "On the housing side, we plan about 629 units for the year," he said. The company also announced that it has appointed Williams de Broe as its London stockbrokers, in its first move in having a London firm represent the group. McInerney has a listing on the London Stock Exchange. It follows McInerney's re-entry to the British market with the acquisition of the Lancashire contracting and house building company, William Hargreaves Holdings, for up to £1.6 million sterling. Mr O'Connor added that the group has increased its land bank and currently has 3,800 plots, although the number of units it would complete next year was "highly dependent on the planning process".