It vows to continue long-term support for members, colleagues, brokers, and communities
Coventry Building Society reported what it called a robust performance for the first half of 2022, increasing its pre-tax profit to £158 million from £124 million in H1 2021.
“This is a robust performance in a challenging environment,” Steve Hughes, chief executive at Coventry Building Society, said. “We continue to balance the needs of savers and borrowers by offering long-term value, strengthening our capital base, and investing in the society’s future.
Coventry said its net interest margin improved to 1.11% from 0.88% a year ago, while gross mortgage lending of £3.8 billion in H1 2022 had enabled overall balances to be maintained. The building society also revealed an increase in its Experience Net Promoter Score from +73 in the first half of 2021 to +77 this year, highlighting the improvement of its customer service.
“It’s during tough times that organisations like ours have to stand up to be counted,” Hughes stressed. “We’re standing shoulder to shoulder with our members, colleagues, broker partners and our communities. We’re able to do this because of the strength of our business model that focuses on long term value and continues to deliver benefits that stand the test of time.
“We’re making real progress with the investment needed to support a digital business, but always with the human touch.”
The mutual invested £47 million in H1 2022 in technology infrastructure, digital transformation and the branch network, while maintaining a cost to mean asset ratio of 0.50%, which is among the lowest of any UK building society.
Hughes said more improvements to the online broker experience are on the way to make it easier for clients to complete straightforward tasks and focus their energies on helping their customers find the right choices for their next mortgage decision.
In terms of community support, Coventry has provided around £700,000 direct funding to address issues of homelessness, social isolation, and equipping young people with financial and career skills. Its employees also volunteered more than 3,000 hours to support local community initiatives, including working with primary and secondary school students on numeracy, literacy and skills programs.
“Being strong and secure also means we can help people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. I’m really proud that as an organisation we have stepped up our direct support, volunteering and fundraising to help people whose household finances are being stretched,” Hughes said.
