Irish Permanent has issued 1.7 million shares under the loyalty bonus scheme introduced when the group converted from a building society to a public company two years ago.

The loyalty bonus shares are issued to those Irish Permanent shareholders who applied for their free shares by August 12th, 1994, and who have remained as shareholders ever since.

Under the scheme, qualifying shareholders received 15 bonus shares on the first anniversary and a further 15 shares on the second anniversary of the flotation at the end of last months.

The 1.7 million shares issued for the second anniversary indicate Irish Permanent has more than 114,000 shareholders - over two years after the company was floated. This gives Irish Permanent by far the biggest shareholder base of any Irish public company.