KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Total assets up 7% in the first half, to £16.5bn;
- Record profit before tax of £39.3m;
- New residential mortgage lending up 37% on the second half of 2004; and
- Management expenses ratio down to 0.74%.
Commenting on the results, Robert Sharpe, chief executive of Portman sai: "I am pleased to report another excellent set of interim results. Following the successful implementation of Mortgage Regulation, and despite the fall in the number of housing market transactions, lending volumes have increased by 37% compared with the final six months of 2004. I am confident that the Group will achieve its growth, profit and capital targets for 2005."
