The Yorkshire Building Society Group has published its results for 2014, its 150thanniversary year, as it achieved record gross and net mortgage lending and a record core operating profit.
Gross mortgage lending totalled £7.6bn and net lending reached £2.6bn.
Core operating profit was £178.8m, an 18% increase on 2013, while pre-tax profits totalled £188.2m, a 5.5% decrease on 2013.
The UK’s second-largest building society continued to deliver on its mutual values, putting its customers, people and communities first, but today has called on authorities to do more to incentivise greater financial services sector competition for the benefit of consumers, particularly in the current account market.
Chris Pilling (pictured), Yorkshire Building Society Group’s chief executive, said: “I am delighted to report another set of strong financial results for the Group.
“These results reflect our qualities as a modern mutual. We offer customers long-term value and excellent service while strengthening our financial security and ability to invest for the future.
“Our passion for customers is reflected in the 34,800 mortgages we completed during the year – including a record 8,200 to first-time buyers – and the competitive return we provided savers which beat the market average.
“I am proud that in our 150th anniversary year we continued to deliver on the fundamental aims of our founding fathers – to help people save for the future and buy their own home. Further investment in our technology, digital capabilities and branch and agency network is designed to help us continue to deliver long-term value for our customers over the next 150 years too.
“We must acknowledge that, as well as delivering excellent products and service in 2014, we were fined twice by our regulator for previously letting customers down. We have apologised for our errors, taken action to fix those problems swiftly and decisively and reimbursed those affected, which demonstrates our absolute commitment to fair outcomes for customers.”
