Yorkshire Building Society has reported a pre-tax profit of £65.4 million for the six months to 30 June 2010 following its merger with Chelsea Building Society on 1 April 2010.

It also said that gross mortgage lending was up 71% compared to same period last year, while total mortgage balances were £23.3 billion.

Loans in arrears by 2.5% or more (including possessions) by volume remanded stable 1.73%, whilst actual number of cases in arrears fell by over 7% over the last six months.

Iain Cornish, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “The actions we took during 2009 provided the Group with strong foundations which have seen the Society return to healthy profitability.