Investec, the South African financial services group, aims to grow profits at its Irish business by at least 20 per cent this year, according to Michael Cullen, chief executive of the group's Irish operations.
The Dublin-based operation, which employs 60 people and specialises in private and international banking, had pretax profit of £4.6 million (€6.68 million) in the year ended March 31st 2005, more than double the year-earlier figure.
Revenue for the Irish unit was about £14 million, Mr Cullen said. About 40 per cent of the division's revenue comes from its international business and the remainder from domestic Irish business.
"All parts of our business have been strong and we see this continuing," said Mr Cullen. "We are still a small player in the Irish market, which means we can grow without restraint."
Mr Cullen said the Irish market can expect to see the Investec name a lot more next year as the company seeks to boost awareness of its brand through sponsorship deals.
Pretax profit across the whole of the Investec group rose 55 per cent in fiscal 2005, helped by strong growth at the company's private client and stockbroking businesses.
The company, whose shares are listed in London and Johannesburg, had pretax profit of £222.4 million, up from £143.5 million a year earlier. Earnings per share increased 36 per cent to 140.8 pence.
Investec, whose main markets are South Africa, the UK and Australia, benefited as low interest rates encouraged people to take out credit and personal loans.
"Globally there is a lot of momentum for the niche markets Investec is in," said Mr Cullen. "The performance across all the group's operations was strong." He said the company will definitely be making a bigger push into the Irish market going forward.
Investec raised its final dividend to 37 pence a share, bringing its full-year payout to 67 pence, 16 per cent ahead of the prior year's payment.
Client assets under management increased 13 per cent to £33.9 billion across the whole group, boosting profit at the asset management unit by 55 per cent to £38.2 million. Profit from private client activities jumped 58 per cent to £84.8 million, while the company's investment banking division had a profit of £47.2 million, up 25 per cent on the previous year. Car loans and advances rose 21 per cent to £5.8 billion.
"We firmly believe that our niche focus, our ability to be distinctive and the quality of our people will position us to take advantage of market conditions," said Bernard Kantor, Investec's managing director.
Investec was established in 1974 and employs about 4,100 people worldwide.
