Anglo Irish Bank has reported pre-tax profits of €308.4m for the six months to the end of March, an increase of 35% on the same period a year earlier.
The results were described by chief executive David Drumm as an excellent performance.
Earnings per share grew by 30% to 66.7 cent, while lending to customers rose by 18% to €4.3 billion. The bank said all of its divisions performed strongly. A 20% higher interim dividend of 4.51 cent has been declared.
The number of people Anglo employs grew by 17% to 1,315. It said it was confident about the rest of the year and had lending 'work in progress' of €4.9 billion.
The bank said lending in the Irish market was up 15%, while growth in the UK and US operations was 15% and 26% respectively. It said lending margins had remained stable, while non-performing loans accounting for just 0.55% of loan balances.
In Anglo's treasury division, customer deposits rose by €3 billion to €22.5 billion, while revenue at the wealth management division climbed by 16% o €44m.
The bank said its earnings per share for the period would have been around 4% lower if the results had been calculated using the new International Financial Reporting Standards accounting method, which the bank will be adopting in the next financial year.
Shares in the bank soared 77 cent to close at €9.75 in Dublin this evening.
