A third Yorkshire building society has reported falling profits but said it had seen a “strong performance” during the challenges of the pandemic.
Following similar results this week from the Yorkshire and Skipton building societies, Leeds Building Society has posted annual results for 2020 in which profits fell from £88m to £80.7m.
But chief executive officer Richard Fearon said the organisation had increased both its customers satisfaction and staff engagement ratings during the year, showing how its 'mutual values' had come to the fore during the pandemic.
The society made provision charges of £14.6m – a big increase on the £2.8m charge made in 2019 – to reflect what it described as the “tougher economic conditions ahead”. It also increased reserves to £1.35bn.
It said that a recovery in the housing market in the second half of the year had a positive impact on net interest margin, but it saw mortgage arrears rise as it responded to the pandemic by waiving arrears fees and suspending repossessions.
Mr Fearson said: “When I reported our interim results last August, I spoke of being both humbled and immensely proud of how colleagues had responded in the early months of the pandemic.
"Leeds Building Society was created by founders who believed they could achieve more by working together and 2020 proved how mutual support and co-operation truly make a difference to all of us.
"Our success in a tumultuous year means I'm looking forward with confidence to what we can deliver for our members and colleagues in 2021."
The building society – the UK's fifth largest - said that it had kept branches open as far as possible after making them Covid-secure. It moved to remote working for most staff when the pandemic hit and did not furlough any employees, instead redeploying workers to areas such as rising call volumes from members concerned about financial difficulties.
The society said that its move to a new headquarters on Leeds' Sovereign Street was on schedule.
