Skipton Building Society has become the latest mutual to report soaring profits on the back of increased mortgage lending and other housing-based revenue streams.
The UK’s fourth largest building society has announced half-year results which showed that underlying profits rose from £47.9m in the same period last year rose to £122.4m.
The Skipton said that its performance had benefitted from a £14.8m credit to its loan impairment that reflected the UK’s improving economic outlook.
Read more: record mortgage lending
Its estate agency business Connells also completed the acquisition of Countrywide plc in March, creating the UK’s largest estate agency network of 1,235 branches.
David Cutter, Skipton Group chief executive, said: “At a time of continued uncertainty for our customers, colleagues and their families, Skipton’s performance seems a secondary interest while we all adjust to the ongoing impact of the global pandemic.
“But it is against such a challenging social and economic backdrop that we’ve seen Skipton’s mutuality, agility, and first-rate customer service come to the fore and be reflected in our results today.
“Skipton’s founding purpose in 1853 was to tackle the housing and savings issues Victorian society faced. Today we continue to serve that purpose, albeit evolved, for our one million customers, helping them have a home and to save with confidence for their futures.
“During the first six months of the year, Skipton has become the UK’s eleventh largest mortgage lender, with more people than ever having turned to us to help them have a home.”
The building society said it had seen 4.4% mortgage growth, helping 16,087 homeowners to buy or re-mortgage properties. It also increased its membership numbers to 1,075,231.
Mr Cutter said the mutual was “well positioned to face into the uncertainties that exist as the UK moves to the next stage of living with the pandemic”.
