Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P) said today the continued weakness of investment markets is likely to affect profits in the short term but that its underlying business remains strong.
The bank said although sales growth in its life business will be moderated by the impact of SSIAs and the continued weakness in markets, margins should recover as its adjusts its product mix.
In its trading statement issued this morning, IL&P said operating profit for the year is sensitive to the performance of investment markets.
However, stripping out market effects of the underlying post-tax earnings growth for the year for the Irish and British businesses is expected to be in excess of 10 per cent.
IL&P said its banking business is expected to benefit from continued strong loan growth and flat costs.