Background: Its origins could not have been more humble. First Active began life in 1861 as the Workingman's Benefit Building Society and was incorporated in 1875 under the Building Societies Act, writes Edward Power.
In 1960 the society changed its name to First National. Over the next two decades it embarked on an ambitious expansion programme, opening branches across the State and acquiring a number of smaller building societies.
The early 1990s saw First Active dipping its toe in the UK market. In 1994 it took over Mortgage Trust Limited, a UK centralised mortgage lending business. In 1995, a deposit-taking subsidiary commenced business in Guernsey, Channel Islands.
The group's UK operations were widened in 1996 through the acquisition of The Mortgage Corporation. A British retail deposit- taking operation was established in 1996 to obtain sterling deposits to fund what had become a growing mortgage business in the UK.
In 1998, members voted to demutualise and to list the newly constituted First Active plc on the Irish and London stock exchanges.
Conversion occurred on September 7th, 1998 with the shares listed on October 6th, 1998.
Some €132 million in new capital was simultaneously raised from existing members and from the institutional markets.
But the company quickly sailed into choppy waters as the 1999 entry of Bank of Scotland into the mortgage market put a squeeze on margins across the sector.
By the end of that year, the share price was languishing below flotation level.
With earnings increasingly under pressure, it was decided to close 25 branches and drop 90 agents while reducing the workforce by 175.
As First Active's value plummeted, management came under increasing pressure.
In February 2000, chief executive Mr John Smyth announced his resignation by "mutual agreement" after seven years in charge.
Shortly afterwards, a mooted merger with Anglo Irish Bank came unstuck after a disagreement over who would sit on the board of the new company.
A few months later, the depth of the challenge facing the group was confirmed as a 42 per cent fall in annual profits was announced.
In July 2000, financial director Mr Cormac McCarthy succeeded Mr Smyth as chief executive. He quickly set about restructuring the company's priorities and outlook.
Divestment of British holdings was made a key strategy. In September 2000, First Active struck a deal with UK-based Britannic Assurance plc whereby Britannic would invest in the group's UK subsidiary, First Active Financial plc.
Under this agreement, Britannic acquired a 60 per cent ownership of First Active Financial, since re-branded Britannic Money, for an investment of €120 million, while First Active retained the remaining 40 per cent.
This holding was sold to Britannic Assurance in December 2002.
With Mr McCarthy at the helm, First Active quickly made rapid gains. Last year, First Active made a pre-tax profit of 66 million.
Today it has 10 billion in assets on its balance sheet and a 12 per cent share of the Irish mortgage market. It has also paid 160 million in dividends to its shareholders, 75 per cent of whom are original members with small stakes.
First Active has also been growing its commercial property business, now accounting for 15 per cent of its portfolio, and is earning a reasonably healthy 2 per cent margin.
It has 2 per cent of the savings and investment market with about 400,000 account holders, half of whom are active.
