IL&P CHIEF SEES SAVINGS SURGE - Irish Life and Permanent has issued first-half results showing a 56% increase in pre-tax profits in the first six months of €335m compared with €214m for the same period in 2006.
Life sales were up 66% to €594m while the value of the loan book grew 23% to €24.7 billion.
Irish Life and Permanent chief executive Denis Casey referred to an 'extraordinary blossoming' in long-term savings, saying this was a manifestation of the wealth which had been created by the Celtic Tiger.
He said people were now putting more money aside for their children and their retirement and his company was benefiting, adding that people were also looking for an alternative to property investment.
Asked about the problems in the credit market, Mr Casey said IL&P's was not having any difficulty raising money for loans. He added that there were fewer mortgage customers in arrears than at any time over the past five years.
***
DAIRY STRENGTH LIFTS GLANBIA FIGURES - Dairy and food ingredients group Glanbia has posted a 28% increase in pre-tax profits to €38.6m for the first half of the year.
Managing director John Moloney said the better than expected results were helped by an improved world dairy market and a strong performance from its US food ingredients business.
He said the company was having to pay more for milk but was recovering this cost by increasing prices of products such as cheese.
***
MARKETS - It is set to be another volatile day set for European markets. Last night on Wall Street there was no sign of recovery.
The Dow Jones closed down over 2% at 13.041. In Asia the Nikkei index of Japanese shares closed down 1.7% at 16,012, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng ended down 544 points at 22,819.
The euro is worth just under $1.36 and 67.9p sterling.
