Member Article

35% pretax profit leap marks year of progress for Newcastle Building Society

Newcastle Building Society has announced a 35% leap in pretax profit, with profits rising to £5.4m for 2015, a £1.4m year on year increase.

Andrew Haigh, Society Chief Executive, hailed the results reflecting a year of ‘good progress in 2015’, taking pride at the firm’s non-financial key performance indicators as well as its strong financial performance.

The business reported an overall customer satisfaction rating of 95%, a 99% rating for customer satisfaction for financial advice of 99% and an overall staff satisfaction index of 91%.

Andrew continued: “Of course financial performance is vitally important and whilst we have improved profitability, maintained strong capital and liquidity ratios and achieved record low arrears figures, we have also made significant investment in the business.”

“Whilst there may be ongoing volatility in financial markets we will continue to focus on what is important to our Members; providing a great range of straightforward savings and mortgage products and trusted financial advice. We will continue to invest in the business, updating our branch footprint and digital presence whilst developing our staff to their full potential.”

Mr Haigh, who assumed the Society’s top position last year, also paid tribute to former Chief Executive Jim Willens, as well as the current team.

“I would like to thank my predecessor, Jim Willens, for the excellent progress achieved since 2010 which means I have inherited a business in much better shape, allowing me to focus my efforts on building the performance and capability of the Society in the years ahead.

“Last but not least, I would like to pay tribute to the fantastic team of people we have at the Society who work really hard to provide great service for our customers and make the Society such a great place to work.”

He added: “Their exceptional loyalty and commitment has enabled the Society to deliver the year on year improvement in our results and I would like to thank them for their contribution.”