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RNS Number:5705S
Britannia Building Society
08 March 2007


                                                                  8 March 2007

Britannia and EBS to launch Irish mortgage JV

Britannia, the leading UK building society, is in advanced talks with Irish
mutual EBS to set up a new full service  joint venture focussing on the Irish
mortgage intermediary market.

The plans entail combining the award-winning expertise of Platform, the
intermediary lender of Britannia, with EBS's  strong reputation and sales
network in Ireland.

Both societies see brokers taking a bigger share of the residential mortgage
market in Ireland, as they have in the UK,  and see significant opportunities
for growth in the broker market.

Britannia Group chief executive Neville Richardson said the proposed JV was an
exciting prospect for Britannia, as it  would be the first time the Group had
operated in residential mortgage markets outside the UK.

He explained:  "This has the potential to be a very successful and profitable
venture for both parties, adding  significant value for Britannia's members in
the UK and EBS's members in Ireland.  EBS shares similar values to  Britannia
and is very strong in the Irish market.  The venture will allow us to exploit
Platform's renowned expertise  in serving the intermediary sector in a
completely new market."


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EBS chief executive Ted McGovern said Britannia's success in the UK intermediary
market made it the perfect partner for EBS, explaining: "In Britannia we see
both complementary capabilities and, being a committed mutual like ourselves, a
very compatible business philosophy, ethos and values.

"EBS has just completed a very successful first full year in the broker market.
We believe that, going forward, this channel will account for an even bigger
proportion of the overall residential mortgage market in Ireland. In order to
fully avail of these opportunities I am delighted to confirm that EBS and
Britannia Building Society are in advanced discussions to create a joint venture
which will serve this market."

The joint venture will leverage EBS' local market knowledge, established
distribution presence and reputation as well as Britannia's experience of
intermediary channels. Discussions have opened with the Irish Financial
Regulator and, subject to regulatory approval, the JV is expected to be in
operation in the second half of the year.

Ends



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Notes to news editors

Britannia is the UK's second largest member-owned building society, with nearly
three million members countrywide. It has assets of #35 billion. Its 5,000
employees are based at offices in Leek, London, Bristol and Plymouth and 253
branches across the UK.

Platform is the intermediary lender of Britannia and has originated over 120,000
mortgages worth over #10.4bn.

Platform offers prime to non-conforming lending including buy to let and
self-certification. Platform can meet the needs of a wide variety of borrowers,
whatever their aims and circumstances. Platform helps its intermediary customers
find the right mortgage with just one application using its unique cascade
underwriting facility. If a case fails from a credit perspective, the mortgage
application can be moved down the credit scale, and offered on our non
conforming range of products.

Platform won nine industry awards during 2006, including Your Mortgage Awards b
est intermediary mortgage lender; Hamptons Awards best sub-prime lender;
Mortgage Strategy Awards best self-certification lender and Mortgage Times
Awards best overall lender and best product innovator.

EBS Building Society is one of Ireland's leading mutual building societies.
Founded in 1935, EBS has over 400,000 members. With a network of 102
offices throughout Ireland, EBS provides a complete range of financial
services including mortgages, savings, investments, insurance, loans, and
credit cards. EBS currently employs over 700 staff. Operating profit before
tax for 2006 was Euro65.9m, up 23% from 2005.

For further information:

Britannia

Graham Leftwich            01538 393075 or 07970 153609

EBS
Dave Keenan                00353 1665 9113




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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