Strong results delivered by Yorkshire, Skipton and Leeds Building Societies
YORKSHIRE’S three biggest building societies today announced strong results.
Yorkshire, Skipton and Leeds Building Societies all saw big rises in pre-tax profits last year as the mortgage market started to improve and householders started to save again.
Bradford-based Yorkshire Building Society, the second largest mutual in the UK after Nationwide, said it “continues to strengthen its position as a trusted alternative to the big banks” with record pre-tax profit of £199.3m and gross lending up 48% to £6.8bn.
Skipton Building Society saw pre-tax profits increase by £67.1m to £102.5m during the year as it attracted more customers and mortgage and savings balances increased by 9.2% and 8.4% respectively.
Its estate agency chain Connells increased profits by 41% to £50.2m, from £35.6m in 2012.
Leeds Building Society had an 18% rise in pre-tax profit to a record £64.2m in the year to December 31 with chief executive Peter Hill saying member numbers, savings balances and residential mortgage lending are at their highest in the society’s history.
The mutual saw new residential mortgage lending increase by 31% to £2.16bn and savings balances grew by £884m (£384m in 2012) to £8.6bn, while 71,000 new members were attracted, taking total membership to a record 714,000.
Mr Hill said: “I am particularly pleased that in our core markets of savings and mortgages we increased our market shares significantly, and our membership numbers are at an all-time high.
“As a member owned building society, our business model is built on providing security and value for savers and helping more people to buy homes.”
Chris Pilling, Yorkshire Building Society chief executive, said: “I am delighted to present an outstanding set of financial results for the group and am very proud of our achievements in 2013.
“It is 150 years since the building society from which the Yorkshire traces its roots was established and our financial performance and prudent approach in 2013 demonstrates we are still delivering on the promise of giving customers a trustworthy alternative to the banks.”
Skipton chief executive David Cutter said: “2013 was a great year for Skipton Building Society. We continue to balance improving the financial strength of the group with prioritising the needs of a growing number of members.
“We delivered strong profits and further strengthened our capital; and the society is now in robust health after a difficult trading environment in recent years.
“We are ever mindful of the impact of the low interest rate environment on savers but the society’s competitiveness is demonstrated by a strong growth in retail balances.
“There are now sufficient signs to indicate that economic recovery is underway in the UK but many uncertainties remain, in particular any impact from Government measures used to reduce its borrowing, weaknesses in many Eurozone economies and the consequences of actions taken by central banks around the world to extricate the markets from the extraordinary measures of support provided in recent years.
“However, Skipton Building Society is well positioned to face such uncertainties and continue to provide a rewarding and compelling proposition to our members, in line with our vision of Building a Better Society.”
