Nationwide Building Society has published results for the second quarter of 2015.

Gross mortgage lending for the quarter increased 17.2% to £6.8 billion, net lending increased 23.5% to £2.1 billion taking total mortgage balances to £154.9 billion.

Meanwhile, underlying profit before tax increased 52% to £400 million and statutory profit before tax increased 50% to £379 million.

The average loan to value (LTV) of the Nationwide’s residential mortgage book (by value) was 55%, while the average LTV of new business (by value) for the three months to 30 June 2015 was 69%.

The proportion of residential mortgage accounts greater than three months in arrears as at 30 June 2015 was 0.47%, down from 0.49% in the previous quarter.

Graham Beale (pictured), Nationwide’s chief executive, said: “Our new financial year started strongly with increased levels of lending to support home ownership, the introduction of new technology to improve service, and underpinned by robust financial results.

“Nationwide accounted for more than a quarter of total net lending to the UK housing market. Our gross mortgage lending in the first quarter increased 17.2% to £6.8 billion and net lending increased 23.5% to £2.1 billion.

“Innovation was a strong theme this quarter with Nationwide being one of the first financial institutions to introduce Apple Pay allowing contactless payments via iPhones. We also introduced access to our current account balance information on Apple Watch and enabled members to send and receive payments using mobile telephone numbers via Paym.

“Service and member satisfaction remain paramount. We have again been independently ranked first for customer satisfaction and our lead over our nearest competitor has grown since the year end. We are in the top 10 out of 225 organisations in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index, again the highest ranking in our peer group.

“Profitability in the quarter is up 52% at an underlying level and 50% at a statutory level, being £400 million and £379 million respectively, demonstrating that you can be successful by putting members first and doing the right thing.

“The proposed changes to the bank levy and introduction of the tax surcharge on banking companies announced in last month’s budget may benefit UK headquartered international banks but will have a disproportionate effect on building societies such as Nationwide. This represents a missed opportunity to support diversity by acknowledging that building societies are different to banks and to recognise the contribution Nationwide and other mutuals make by lending to the UK economy, and the housing market in particular.”