Chief executive John Goodfellow commented, "The first six months of the year has been more about stability through good asset quality and less about profitability. We are in good shape, profitability is down, as I warned it would be, but we are generating earnings, have no exposure to US sub-prime markets and have been able to generate more than enough retail funding to cover the Group's net mortgage advances.
"When considered in the context of the current financial climate, these results show that a modern mutual can deal with even the toughest market conditions. The indications are that, despite no imminent end to economic pressures, the Group can expect a reasonable second half of the year as we maintain our healthy liquidity position."
Financial highlights at 30 June include:
Group assets £13.4bn
Group pre-tax profit £44.1m (including exceptional profits of £9.0m)
Mortgage balances £9.4 billion
Retail savings balances £7.8 billion
Liquidity 27.05%
For the half year
Group assets up 6.6% (year-on-year 17.7%)
Group mortgage balances up 2.2% (year-on-year 9.5%)
Customer investment balances up 8.9% (year-on-year 17.5%)
