Financial services and mortgage broker group IFG has announced pre-tax profits of €15m for the year ending December 2007, up 23% from the figure of €12m the previous year.
Revenues rose by 20% to €128.8m in what the company called an exceptional year of growth.
IFG said its adjusted earnings per share rose by 43% to 24.17 cent and that its total assets under administration and advice of about €59 billion.
'We believed that even in today's challenging business environment, with our strategy, the geographical spread of our businesses and the repeat nature of our income streams, we will attain the ambitious targets we have set ourselves,' commented IFG's CEO Mark Bourke.
IFG's international division reported profits of €9.7m for 2007, up 54% on the previous year. The company said this reflects underlying organic growth of 21% when the 2006 and 2007 acquisitions of Langtry Trust in Jersey, Northern Trust in the Isle of Man, Corfiser in the British Virgin Islands and Gestinor in Switzerland are stripped out.
The company said that growth of its Pensioneer Trustee business continued at a fast pace with a 23% rise in the number of self-invested pension plans under administration.
IFG described the performance of its UK financial services division as 'exceptional'. Operating profits surged by 162% to €3.8m, driven mainly by the fee based advisory business Saunderson House. Siddals, which advises UK nationals moving permanently abroad, has now entered into the Spanish and Australian markets and expects to expand further this year and next.
IFG's Irish property service division grew its contribution by 11% to €5.2m. The company said this was an exceptional performance given current market conditions.
'We believe the downward pressure on volume and margin in the property business will continue in 2008 and in that light we are targeting to maintain our profitability but with a significantly different mix of products,' the company said.
IFG shares closed up four cent at €1.99 in Dublin.
