The society saw growth of 97 per cent to take its net figure to £1.7 billion, with gross lending climbing by 44 per cent to reach over £4.2 billion.
David Stewart, chief executive explained that the society had its set of strict risk limitations to thank for the robust set of results, adding that adverse lending accounted for just 1 per cent of its portfolio, with majority falling into the near prime or light categories.
It leant on strong retail savings deposits to help ride out market turbulence in the latter half of 2007, pitting a 'conservative' estimate of its impact at around £2 milliion.
Less than 10 per cent of lending was given over to first-time buyers, with its average (adjusted) loan-to-value just 45 per cent.
Furthermore, the amount of residential borrowers over six months in arrears saw little change from the previous year at 0.15 per cent. Three-month arrears were marginally higher at 0.55 per cent, with 33 of its properties in arrears in excess of twelve months.
Stewart continued: “As in previous years, all of our mortgage growth was organic. The Society has never purchased a mortgage book, preferring to retain control of the origination and underwriting process. I am sure this policy has helped us to maintain our high asset quality.
“Although these results show the strength of both our funding position and of our asset quality we are in no way complacent. Nevertheless, I am convinced we have the right business model to succeed in less benign conditions and I look forward to reporting further success in 2008.”
