Pre-tax profits at Irish Nationwide Building Society grew by 26% to €97m last year as customer accounts rose by 41% to €3,415m.
The society's loan book climbed by 10% to €3,537m, while gross lending last year was flat at just over €1 billion. Management costs grew by 22% to €28.8m, mainly because of higher staff costs.
Managing director Michael Fingleton said he expected property prices to rise by up to 10% in Dublin, with more moderate increases elsewhere. He said he did not expect supply to catch up with demand until some time in 2004.
He said demand was being underpinned by demographic factors and low interest rates.
Mr Fingleton said a higher proportion of profits was now coming from the commercial side of its business.
