The Leeds Building Society has posted record results for 2014.

New residential mortgage lending increased by 24% to £2.7bn, while net residential lending totalled £1.1bn.

The mutual also reported that operating profit before exceptional items rose by 26% to a record £80.9m.

Chief executive Peter Hill said a profit performance driven by the growth in lending has enabled ongoing investment in the business to further develop the service proposition and provide long-term value to a growing membership.

Her said: “I am proud to report this excellent performance, which builds on similarly successful results we’ve delivered over the past three years.

“These achievements illustrate how our growth strategy – including investing in the best talent and modernising our brand and the ways in which we can meet our members’ needs – is enabling us to compete with larger rivals to attract more savers and borrowers in a challenging marketplace.

“Our rise in profit has been driven by growth in mortgage lending across a balanced product range, and lower impairment provisions.

“I am pleased to report that we continue to attract mortgage business well above our market share and in 2014 we helped more than 7,800 First Time Buyers to step onto the property ladder, accounting for over a third of our total lending by value.

“Our innovation in the mortgage market has won further awards and industry recognition, with a positive reception from borrowers, intermediaries and sector experts. This includes significant progress on lending on new build homes and our support for the Government’s Help to Buy equity scheme. The latter are both examples of our efforts to support borrowers who are not well-served by the wider market.”