Leeds Building Society has posted record profits before tax for the fourth year running.
It made profits of £116.6m during 2016, compared with £108.5m in the previous year.
But the society’s chief executive Peter Hill warned that 2017 would prove to be a “testing” year given historically low interest rates and the uncertainty of Brexit.
He said: “I'm proud to report we delivered on our mission as a member owned building society and helped more people than ever save and have the home they want.
“As a result, the society has more savers and borrowers than ever before, achieved record profits and our total assets now exceed £15.9bn."
He said competition among mortgage lenders remained strong in 2016, resulting in downward pressure on the building society's net interest margin, which he expects to continue in 2017.
“Combined with Bank base rate at an historic low and uncertainty linked to the UK's exit from the EU, these factors are likely to prove testing this year, both to us and the wider financial services sector.
“Despite this, our successful sustainable business model means we're well-placed to withstand the challenges that may arise in 2017 and beyond.”
Leeds Building Society posted gross lending of more than £4bn during 2016, up by 28 per cent on the year before.
It also managed to increase its capital and reserves to a record £914m, giving it a capital ratio of 15.2 per cent.
Over the course of 2016 it total membership increased to more than 756,000, which is the highest in its history.
Mr Hill said the society had also invested in refurbishing its branch network and had reduced the time between mortgage application and offer meaning 92 per cent of customer instructions were processed the day they were received.
damian.fantato@ft.com
