Announcing its annual results, the Society saw:
• Total assets grow by 10.7 per cent to £12.3 billion
• Mortgages and other loans increase by 10.2 per cent to £10.0 billion
• Retail savings balances grow by 10.4 per cent to £8.2 billion
• Profit before tax increase by 22.0 per cent to £65.5 million
• Net interest margin reduce for the benefit of members from 0.96 per cent to 0.92 per cent of average assets
• Ratio of management expenses to average assets reduce for the eleventh consecutive year, from 0.57 per cent to 0.53 per cent, making Coventry the most efficient top 10 building society in the UK
• Despite a narrow interest margin, the Cost : Income ratio improve from 50.65 per cent to 47.37 per cent, one of the best performances in the building society sector
David Stewart, chief executive of Coventry Building Society, commented: “These results demonstrate the success of our continued strategy to develop our core mortgage and savings business. Our profitable growth has again been built on high quality assets funded by retail savings, highlighting the value of our innovative products that give real value to members.
“As a result of our constant focus on expenditure, a reduction in operating costs as a proportion of assets allowed us to pass on these efficiency benefits to savers and borrowers through margin.
“We have also made a significant investment in our systems and premises during the year to ensure that we have a solid platform for future growth.
“In recognition of the financial strength of the Society, during the year, we made a special contribution to the Society’s defined benefit pension plan that eliminated the pension deficit and at the year end the plan had a surplus of £0.9 million.
“I therefore believe that the Coventry is exceptionally well positioned to meet future challenges and we remain committed to our members and to our mutual status.”
