The Yorkshire Building Society Group has reported a 9% increase in pre-tax profits to £165.8m for 2017 (2016: £151.5m) and a 25% rise in core operating profit to £160.2m (2016: £128.0m).

The group financed more than 36,000 home loans, increasing gross mortgage lending by 13% to a record £8.1bn (2016: £7.2bn) and net lending by 46.5% to £1bn (2016: £0.7bn).

It supported members in saving for their futures, opening 193,000 new accounts and increasing savings balances to £28.9bn (2016: £28.7bn).

Mike Regnier, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “I’m pleased to be reporting a strong financial performance for 2017, despite a very competitive market and ongoing wider economic uncertainty.

“We’ve continued to fulfil our core purpose of helping people achieve their key financial goals, whether that’s buying a home, saving for today, or leaving a legacy for the next generation.

“Our strategy to concentrate on our core business areas has led to adjustments in how we operate. As we announced in 2017, we are making changes to our brands and high street locations, and are withdrawing from the current account market. We believe these changes, which will be completed in 2018, are vital in ensuring the Society is well-positioned for the future so we can continue to provide good long-term value to our members.

“It is important that we become a more efficient building society, and the year-on-year reduction in operating costs, along with improvement in the management expense ratio shows the progress we are making.

“We exist to help our members with their financial objectives, so continual improvement of our services is fundamental to us. The increased focus on our core businesses of mortgages and savings has helped us in this aim, illustrated by the year-on-year increase in customer advocacy.

“We will continue to prioritise improving customer service and delivering good long-term value to our membership while maintaining financial strength.”