Leeds Building Society delivers pre-tax profits of £116.6m in record-breaking 2016

Leeds Building Society has delivered record profits before tax for the fourth consecutive year after helping “more people than ever to save and have the home they want during 2016.”

The UK’s fifth largest building society has reported pre-tax profits of £116.6m, which is a significant rise from the £108.5m achieved at the same time in the previous year.

During this period, the society has helped a record 53,700 more people have the home they want, which saw it deliver a record net mortgage lending of £1.9bn (£1.4bn 2015) taking total mortgage balances above £13.2bn.

Leeds Building Society also helped over 57,700 more people save, increasing savings balances by a record £1.3bn (£751m 2015) and taking total balances above £11.2bn.

In 2016, increased total membership also increased to over 756,000 (up from 719,000 2015), which is the highest in the society’s history.

To maintain this growth, Leeds Building Society created 120 more roles in 2016, taking the total workforce to over 1,400. In addition, 24 branches were also refurbished as part of ongoing modernisation of the branch network.

Peter Hill, chief executive officer, 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.

“During 2016, we consistently provided security and value through attractive products and excellent service to meet the needs of our growing membership.

“As a result, the Society has more savers and borrowers than ever before, achieved record profits and our total assets now exceed £15.9bn (£13.5bn 2015).”

He added: “Competition among mortgage lenders remained strong in 2016, resulting in downward pressure on our net interest margin, and we expect this 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.”

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