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Building society fights back in recession

The Newcastle Building Society has made a profit in the first six months of this year following a difficult 2008.

The society made losses of £26 million last year but has rallied to move back into profitability.

It has announced a £750,000 pre-tax profit for the first half of 2009, and chief executive Colin Seccombe said he hoped to claw back between 50% and 80% of the £43 million exposure to Icelandic banks.

NBS has also announced growth plans including three new savings contracts and proposals to open a flagship branch in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, at the beginning of 2010.

Mr Seccombe said: “It’s going to still be a tough, challenging environment, but I’m actually very much more confident about the path ahead than perhaps I was six months ago.

“I can see now a very clear way in which we can work our way through this situation.

“We have a really strong base to build on. I’m very upbeat about the future.”

NBS hopes to get around £3 million from creditors of one of the Icelandic banks in the next week, with more to come by the end of the year.

Mr Seccombe said: “We won’t get all of our money back, but I think there are encouraging signs to think we can recover a substantial amount.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .