Yorkshire Building Society sees profits soar to £192m

Yorkshire Building Society has reported growth in profit and savings balances, while delivering record mortgage lending and reducing costs in 2018.

For the 2017/2018 financial year, the third largest building society in the UK increased its pre-tax profit by 16% from £165.8m to £192.5m. The Society also saw a 13% rise in operating profit from £160.2m to £180.8m.

During this period, the Society financed more than 36,000 mortgages, increased gross lending by 10% to a record £8.9bn, and net lending grew by 60% from £1bn to to £1.6bn.

In 2018, the society also opened 197,000 new accounts and grew savings balances to £29.6bn (2017: £28.9bn). The Society paid savings account holders £100m in additional interest because its average savings rates were 0.37% higher than the market average.

Yorkshire Building Society has assets of £43.1bn and has more than three million customers.

The YBS Group includes Yorkshire Building Society and its brands Chelsea Building Society and Norwich & Peterborough Building Society, and its subsidiary companies including Accord Mortgages Limited.

Mike Regnier, Yorkshire Building Society Group’s chief executive, said: “It’s very pleasing that in a competitive market, which has seen margins under pressure, we’ve delivered a sustainable level of profit whilst also improving value for members. But it’s even more pleasing to know we’ve supported millions of people to achieve the financial goals which enable their life goals.

“As a building society, our members are our customers and our shareholders. We’re here to provide them with the financial tools they need to achieve the things in life they want – whether that’s buying their first home, saving to build financial resilience, or using their money to help the next generation.

“All of the money we make is either used to help our members, through higher than average savings rates, more flexible products and improved services, or kept within the Society to make us financially stronger and more resilient.

“Our year-on-year reduction in operating costs, along with improvement in the management expense ratio, shows that we’re becoming more efficient and giving our members better value for money.”