THE Scottish Building Society, which claims to be the world’s oldest remaining building society, has posted record results, writes Brian Donnelly.
The mutual has seen its balance sheet grow by nearly 40 per cent in the last two years, leading to a pre-tax profit of £2.4 million and mortgage assets of £454m for the financial year ended January, 31 2022.
The society, which only offers savings and mortgage accounts and was set up in 1848, ascribed the growth to customers "seeking both value and purpose".
Paul Denton, the society’s chief executive, said: "As a mutual society, we reward our members with fair interest rates whilst responsibly using those funds to provide flexible mortgages, enabling Scottish people to buy homes and get on the property ladder.
“The environment has changed over the years, but that simple strategy has helped the society survive and thrive towards its 175th anniversary next year.”
Mr Denton said: “Despite the historic low base rate, we have continued to pay savings rates above the market average, whilst our income has benefitted by growing our mortgage balances more than 36% in the last two years. We are now helping more members buy their homes than ever before, which is something we are incredibly proud of in today’s fierce mortgage market.
“As a mutual, unlike the high street banks, we do not have shareholders, so all profits are reinvested into the business, in areas such as in new digital technologies, improving our member experience and increasing our capital base to support future growth.”
Mr Denton credits the staff at SBS for their “immense work” during the pandemic "as one of the reasons why the society has performed so strongly".
He said: “It has been without doubt two enormously difficult years from an economic and operational perspective, but our staff have delivered outstanding results despite these major challenges. Unlike retail banks who are moving out of towns and cities across the country, we are working harder than ever to provide for our members."
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