Pre-tax profits at house builder, McInerney, grew 26 per cent to €50 million in 2005, the company reported yesterday.

McInerney, which has operations in Ireland, Britain and Spain, had a turnover during the year of €489 million, 31 per cent ahead of the €373 million recorded in 2004.

Earnings per share (eps) for the year were up 16 per cent at 124.01 cent from 106.5 cent in 2004.

McInerney is proposing to pay a final dividend of 15 cent per share, subject to the approval of shareholders at its annual general meeting.

Combined with its nine cent a share interim dividend, this will give it a total dividend for the year of 24 cent.

The group's balance sheet remained strong, with net assets at the year's end of €154.8 million, up from €119 million 12 months earlier.

Commenting on the results yesterday, Barry O'Connor, managing director, said conditions were challenging in England, while the Irish market remained strong.

However, he pointed out that the company increased sales and profits in England, though it sacrificed margin to do so.

"We did 500 units in 2004 and we pushed that up to 658," Mr O'Connor said. "We also pushed up our profits to €17 million, which was very much against the trend in the UK last year.

"We went out and chased the business, so our margins fell from 14 per cent to 10 per cent."

Analysts responded to the results by generally upgrading forecasts for this year. McInerney added 45 cent to close at €12.50 in Dublin last night.