Coventry Building Society announces record savings levels

COVENTRY Building Society has seen a dramatic increase in both new mortgage lending and savings balances.

Announcing its results for the six months ended June 30 the building society revealed new mortgage lending was up 16% to £2.9bn (30 June 2012: £2.5bn) while savings balances increased by £821m, to a record £20.9bn.

Profit before tax increased by 18% to £62.2m (30 June 2012: £52.8m). 

Impairment charges were £3.5m from a loan book of £23.2bn, which the building society says reflects its low risk lending both before and throughout the credit crisis.

In the most recent table published by the Financial Ombudsman Service, Coventry had the lowest proportion of complaints upheld of any High Street bank or building society listed.

Chief executive David Stewart said: “Coventry has maintained its track record of strong performance which was established before the onset of the current financial crisis in late 2007.
 
“As a mutual building society, we run the Society in the interests of members.  Whilst this requires us to remain strongly profitable, the need to protect savers in a difficult market has been a particular priority, alongside providing a consistent and responsible level of mortgage finance to homeowners.

“These priorities can be seen in the further growth of both savings and mortgage balances.
 
“Coventry’s consistent performance is based on strong fundamentals.  We remain the most cost-efficient building society in the UK, the quality of our lending is exemplary, and our core tier 1 capital ratios show us to be amongst the strongest of UK financial institutions. 

“We have retained our ‘A’ rating from the two main credit rating agencies that rate the building society sector, and have developed a sustainable business that has the fair treatment of customers at its heart.”