The profit came on the back of higher house lending and lower overheads.

It said it could make BAA more efficient with lower overheads, outsourcing and better procurement.

With much lower overheads, online estate agents enjoy an advantage over their high-street rivals, some investors said.

So would smaller businesses and lower overheads.

Emerging casino hubs in Southeast Asia have lower overheads than Macau and can promise higher incentives to wealthy gamblers.

Such brokerages often pay their brokers a bigger percentage of fee income than larger investment houses do, reflecting their lower overheads.

The key threat, however, is that their lower overheads will enable them to offer sharply lower or zero-fee services, said the sources.

Moa Group says it's well positioned to take advantage of a growing market for craft beer, with lower overheads and improved margins.

The Internet bank said its lower overheads from operating online allowed it to offer more competitive interest rates, compared to the bigger banks.

However, Dublin's top earners could well come from a few smaller agencies controlled by one or two individuals with strong clients and lower overheads.

Lower overheads and costs Banks have branches and office buildings, and offer a wide range of financial products.