Yorkshire Building Society has recorded core operating profit of £62.5m for the first six months of the year, down by almost half on the £115.9m recorded at the same point last year.
Its interim results for 2016 also revealed statutory profit before tax of £99.9m, down from £111.2m at 30 June 2015, while total assets stood at £39.6bn after the first half of this year, compared to £38.2bn at 31 December 2015.
Chief executive Chris Pilling explained that although lower than previous years, the results were in line with expectations, given the current the competitiveness of the mortgage market and expected reductions in margins from historic, higher margin loans, including types of lending no longer undertaken.
Mortgage balances were up to £34bn from £33.3bn at the end of 2015, supporting more than 3,000 people to buy their first home.
The building society achieved gross lending of £3.5bn during the first six months of 2016 - compared to £3bn at the same stage in 2015 - which meant a gross lending market share of 2.85 per cent. Net lending stood at £521m, down from £630m in June last year.
With over 700 best buy mortgage products, it claimed to have provided more than any other lender, while one in 10 direct mortgages were taken on offset products that allow borrowers to pay off their home loan early.
Asset quality remained strong during the first half, with the value of loans in arrears by more than three months further reducing to 0.77 per cent - 0.89 per cent at December 2015 - lower than the industry average.
Also during the last six months, YBS introduced an online mortgage appointment booking tool, allowing customers to book an appointment direct into an adviser’s diary.
Mr Pilling said he was pleased with the “robust financial performance” in a “highly competitive and challenging market”.
He stated: “Despite the challenges, the society and other financial services providers may face as a result of economic and political uncertainty, we remain in a strong position to continue investing in, and growing our business on behalf of our members.”
The YBS Group includes Yorkshire Building Society and its brands Chelsea Building Society and Norwich & Peterborough Building Society, along with subsidiary companies including Accord Mortgages.
During the last six months, the group implemented planned changes to brands and branch network, amongst other things, migrating Chelsea and Barnsley customers onto a “single multi-brand platform” which from September will give customers access to more than 250 branches and agencies across the UK.
Previously, Chelsea customers had access to 35 branches and Barnsley customers only 8 branches.
peter.walker@ft.com
