The Irish Nationwide Building Society has announced a 19 per cent rise in pre tax profits to €77 million.
Assets increased by 16 per cent to €374 million and gross lending rose to €1025 million.
Commenting on the results Mr Michael Fingleton, managing director of INBS said the society was particularly satisfied that it maintained its strong growth while containing management costs without having to close any of our 50 branch offices or any redundancies.
Referring to the housing market, Mr Fingleton said measures introduced in last year’s budget have given the market a welcome boost.
He said since the budget, there has been a continuing strong demand by both first time buyers and investors buoyed by prevailing low interest rates and an improving world and national economy.
He said while house prices have only marginally increased this year a sharper rise is likely if demand remains at present levels due to a shortage of zoned "ready to go" land available to meet demand particularly in Dublin.
"The effect of Bacon Three under the Planning and Development Act 2000 is beginning to kick in with the two year limitation on planning permissions causing concerns on the supply of 'ready to build land'" he said.
He concluded "Competition between institutions for available mortgage business will remain strong with an abundance of funds available for lending. This is good news for borrowers who can expect further and more competitive deals from lenders."