Leeds and Skipton building societies each have a record year

WITH mortgage completions at their highest-ever level, Leeds Building Society has had its fifth consecutive year of growth.

Mortgage completions in 2015 reached record levels coming in at £3.1bn. The Society said it had increased lending and reached record levels of profit, enabling them to invest further in the long-term strength of the company.

Pre-tax profits for the year reached £108.5m, up from £69.4m

Leeds Building Society chief executive officer Peter Hill said: “I’m proud to report another excellent set of results after a successful 12 months, building on the sustained growth in recent years.

“As we celebrated our 140th anniversary in 2015, we helped more people than ever before to save for the future and to have the homes they want.

“And in the spirit of our founders, we continue to move with the times and innovate, to keep improving the service we offer to members.”

Meanwhile, 162 year-old Skipton Building Society increased Society customer numbers by 43,348 to a record 838,087.

Pre-tax profits dipped slightly for the year to 31 December, reaching £146.9m down from £155.8m.

David Cutter, group chief executive of Skipton Building Society, said: “One of our achievements that we are most proud of over the past 12 months was leaping into the prestigious ‘top ten’ for customer experience excellence across major UK brands and being named the UK’s top building society for customer experience.

“The early part of 2015 saw net savings outflows, and was impacted by the market distortion created by NS&I’s pensioner bonds. However, strong growth in retail savings resumed throughout the remainder of the year, such that savings balances have increased by 36% over the last three years.”

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