The boss of Skipton Building Society has hailed a successful year in which the mutual has supported more than 20,000 first time buyers, despite a drop in profits.
Annual results covering 2024 show the society grew its membership by 3% to 1.26 million borrowers and savers, as its mortgage book grew 8.2% to £30.9bn. Strength in the housing market was said to have boosted the group's estate agency business Connells' total revenue by 12% to £1.07bn, offsetting pressure on net interest income.
Group pre-tax profit was £318.6m, down from £333.4m, as group net interest margin fell to 1.28% from 1.53%. That was driven by £377m more in interest payments year-on-year as net interest income fell to £488.4m from £542.8m.
Skipton grew its proportion of mortgage lending to first time buyers, up from 40% to 44%. And group residential mortgage arrears of three months or more was 0.29% of mortgage accounts at the end of the year, before the industry average of 0.91%.
Meanwhile, group savings balances grew 8.9% to £28.3bn which the mutual said helped to partially offset its strong member pricing strategy and Bank of England base rate reductions.
Stuart Haire, Skipton's group chief executive, said: "In 2024 we have delivered against our purpose, with over 20,000 first-time buyers given the keys to their first home, equating to 44% of our new lending. As part of our commitment to providing free advice to all of our members, we also saw our skilled colleagues have over 39,000 advice conversations with members to help make their money work harder and support their long-term financial wellbeing.
"In Connells, our property group, we grew our profits by £47.5m, provided almost 79,000 exchanges on properties for sale to enable more people to get the keys to their home, and grew our lettings business to over 126,000 properties under management. We grew our market share in the year and maintained our clear leadership position, with over 10% of º£½ÇÊÓƵ house listings being dealt with through our estate agency arm.
"Across our broader group, we own Skipton Business Finance (invoice financing and asset-based lending) and Jade (AI and software company). These businesses both had a strong year of performance, with profits up 12% in Skipton Business Finance and 8% in Jade. The profits of these businesses are reinvested into the Society, creating a sustainable and resilient financial and service platform for our members and customers, both now and in the future."
