Strong cashflow has allowed IFG to cut its debt significantly over the past few months, shareholders heard yesterday.

Addressing the firm's annual general meeting in Dublin, IFG chairman Mr Joe Moran said management's primary focus since the start of the year had been on "sustainable and long-term cash generation".

Mr Moran said this had helped the group to create "a much stronger balance sheet".

IFG plans to eliminate its debt by 2007, having reduced it from €86 million to less than €50 million since the end of 2002.

"The trading year to date leads us to believe that current expectations will be met," Mr Moran said.

IFG chief executive Mr Richard Hayes later indicated that profit growth would be flat this year as the group continued to concentrate on debt reduction.

However, he added that he was looking ahead to "a lot of growth" in 2005.

He indicated that the firm had won a number of substantial new consultancy clients over the first half of the year. Shareholders yesterday approved a scheme whereby IFG executives will be incentivised if they achieve profit growth of more than 25 per cent in coming years.

Mr Moran said it was a matter of achieving a balance between pay and reward, adding that the scheme was both "fair and demanding". Mr Hayes later expressed some discomfort with the high threshold but admitted that the firm would have "no difficulty in defending it".

Mr Hayes said IFG remained committed to its troubled British pensions release subsidiary, Berkeley Jacobs, despite acknowledging that the firm would lose money this year.

Berkeley Jacobs, which facilitates people who want to withdraw money early from their pensions, was fined £175,000 (€260,000) by the Financial Services Authority in February for advertising too aggressively.

"It's a much-needed market but it's very difficult to get to the market because of the concerns of regulators," Mr Hayes said.

Shares in IFG finished at €1.13, down two cents.