Swansea Building Society has posted record profits alongside the biggest growth in mortgages and saving balances in its history.
In its last financial year to December end 2023, the mutual achieved double digit growth in its total assets, mortgages, savings and capital, despite a difficult economic environment.
Total assets grew by 15% driven by mortgages and savings growth of 16% and 15% respectively. Total assets increased by £77.2m to £607m, savings balances by £72.6m to £565.5m, while mortgage balances grew by £66.9m to £477.8m. The society’s mortgage growth was driven by gross mortgage completions of £120.1m, another record, beating the previous highest set in 2021.
Its pre-tax profit of £6.2m, exceeded the previous record of £5.4m achieved in 2022. Its strong financial performance allowed it to increase capital reserves to £39.8m.
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The Swansea headquartered building society, which operates four branches, remains one of the few financial institutions in the 海角视频 that receives no wholesale funding or support from the Bank of England in the form of cheap funding. Its balance sheet is funded entirely by customer savings balances and its own capital reserves built up from retained profits over many years
Its chief executive, Alun Williams, whose total remuneration for the year was £243,000, said: "The society has ended its centenary year in great health, having delivered a record performance in 2023. This is despite the extremely difficult market conditions experienced during the year. I am extremely proud of how the society has balanced the needs of borrowers and savers against a backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis, falling house prices and a rapidly increasing interest rate environment. Our 100th year has been full of activity, and I am delighted with how my colleagues have shown the level of dedication and care that our members deserve.
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“The Bank of England has increased the bank base interest rate 13 times since December 2021 as they have sought to reduce inflation. We are mindful that many of our mortgage customers have never experienced a rising interest rate market and were considerate of the impact that these dramatic increases could have on both new and existing borrowers. As a result, the society’s weighted average interest rate paid by borrowers has increased by 2.88% at 31 December 2023, compared to the 5% increase in bank base interest rate.”
On its savings book Mr Williams said: “Each time the bank base interest rate has changed, we have reviewed the society’s savings interest rates to ensure that they are still highly competitive. The number of changes to the bank base interest rate during 2022 and 2023 has made this task more challenging than in previous years, as the increased volatility in the savings market has made it more difficult to review the interest rates offered by other savings providers. It was therefore extremely pleasing that we were able to offer our savers such competitive rates that we achieved record savings growth.
“Producing strong sustainable financial results is just one aspect of the society’s objectives. It is vitally important to the society that we are also successful in terms of the quality of customer feedback and member satisfaction. I was therefore delighted that based on customer survey feedback for 2023, 97% of respondents said they would recommend the society to other prospective customers. This was particularly pleasing given the current economic climate.”
The chief executive said a key purpose was to remain a “socially responsible and to make a positive impact to the local community.”
Mr Williams added: “We offer support not only through the products and services that we provide, but also by donating our time, skills, and resources. As 2023 was our 100th year of existence, in addition to the money raised for Maggie’s, our charity of the year, we donated an additional £100,000 to provide further support to local good causes in branch communities.”
On the outlook for the mutual, which has a workforce of nearly 80, he said: “As we look beyond our 100th year, the society is well placed to navigate through the challenging trading conditions caused by the current economic uncertainty. Our plans continue with the theme of digital transformation, as we embrace change by investing in our people and technology. Our members will therefore continue to see improvements in the way the society delivers its products and services in the coming years. The increased growth and subsequent profitability of recent years has enabled us to make such investments, for the benefit of both current and future members.”
The mutual will hold its annual general meeting at the Swansea.Com Stadium on April 25th.