The Yorkshire Building Society saw its core operating profit increase by 35% to £84.2m over the first half of the year and reported a profit before tax of £92.3m.

This compares to £99.9m for the same period last year.

Mortgage balances were marginally down, at £34.0bn, compared to £34.1bn, while savings balances were £28.9bn (31 December 2016: £29.1bn).

Mike Regnier, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “In the context of a challenging and highly competitive market, I’m pleased to report Yorkshire Building Society has continued to deliver a healthy and robust financial performance. In line with our plans we’ve taken a disciplined and measured approach, focusing on our core businesses of mortgages and savings.

“Our priority is to deliver long-term value for money and excellent customer service. We have strengthened our financial security through improved capital, leverage and liquidity positions and delivered a solid level of profit for a business of our size, which will be retained or reinvested in services. It’s pleasing to see we have once again improved our service to achieve a Net Promoter Score of +42, compared with the market average of +6.

“We’re focusing on the financial services which matter the most to our members – buying a home of their own and saving for their futures. Our market-leading mortgages have helped more than 3,100 people to become homeowners for the very first time, and enabled thousands more to buy the home of their choice or remortgage an existing property.

“We’re here to deliver value for our members and we’re delighted that we have continued to beat the market by offering savings rates which pay 0.28% more than the average, even in the context of last year’s Bank Rate cut.

“The brand and branch network changes announced in January have begun to be implemented through the first half of the year. As a result, we expect to see increased long-term value and cost reductions realised in the medium to long term.

“We were proud to announce earlier this year that our members and colleagues chose to support End Youth Homelessness as our charity partner. The aim is to raise £750,000 over the next three years and enable 700 homeless young people to live independently in a safe place they can call home. I am delighted to report that in the first six months of this partnership, we have raised more than £130,000 and the first beneficiaries of the scheme have moved into their own homes. This is a fantastic achievement in such a short space of time and we are all excited about what the future holds for this partnership.”