Nottingham Building Society Reports Strong Financial Performance With Gross Mortgage Lending Up 18%

The Nottingham Building Society has announced its key financial achievements and highlights for 2022. These include a pre-tax profit of £18.9 million, an 18% increase in gross mortgage lending to £659 million, and a strong capital position with a Common Equity Tier 1 of 16.8%. The Society achieved a net interest margin of 1.69%, a customer Net Promoter Score of 72%, and an employee engagement score of 81%. Despite additional costs and increased provisions for expected future credit losses due to inflationary challenges, the Society has performed well, with profit before tax up £3.8 million from 2021. The Society remains committed to supporting its members through these difficult times by paying savers the best rates possible and strengthening its executive team. The Nottingham is developing a new strategy to address challenges faced by aspiring homeowners in 2023.

Sue Hayes, CEO of Nottingham Building Society, comments on the results: “I am pleased to report that we ended the year in a strong position, with profit before tax of £18.9 million, up £3.8 million on 2021. Our financial performance has been achieved despite additional costs and increased provisions for expected future credit losses driven by the rising cost of living, and inflationary challenges that our borrowers face into 2023 and beyond. Increasing interest rates have supported the strong performance. 

“We have made it a key priority to support our members through these difficult times by paying savers the best rates we could whilst strengthening the Society. Building the right team has also been very important. In 2022 we announced some significant hires to bolster our talented executive team. Alongside this, finding the right allies to support our ambitions was a focus. Our partnership with Generation Home, announced in November, is a great example of how we will think differently to help achieve our goals.

“I am proud of the results we are sharing today and would like to thank our members, and each one of our dedicated colleagues, for their continued trust in the Society. We look ahead to the coming years with a renewed sense of focus, guided by a clear and impactful purpose, with mutuality as our bedrock.”

Financial performance

The Society has delivered a strong level of profit in 2022 during turbulent economic conditions, with an underlying profit before tax of £15.2m (2021: £7.4m) and a statutory profit after tax of £15.8m (2021: £12.6m).

Although this was aided by higher interest income and gains on derivatives, these were partially offset by increased investment and expenses in the new strategy, supporting colleagues in the cost of living crisis and passing through some of the interest rate increases to our saver members.

In light of the macroeconomic conditions, the continuation of the cost of living crisis and the potential impact on mortgage affordability, the Society increased its provision for expected losses on loans to customers, recognising the increasing risk of credit deteriorating in a recessionary environment. Our asset quality remains strong with arrears levels remaining low at 0.20% of loans three months or more in arrears and an average loan to value at the end of 2022 of 54%.

Supporting local communities has continued to be an important part of The Nottingham. Throughout 2022 we delivered our Corporate and Social Responsibility programme that saw 841 hours volunteered to community projects and charities by our team. In addition to this £150,000 was donated to the Samuel Fox Foundation. In relation to colleagues, we have made two cost of living payments to support them through these challenging times.

Strategic review and outlook

The Society completed a strategic review in 2022. Following this process, a new strategy is being developed which builds on The Nottingham’s 170-year heritage looking after savers and helping people own their own homes while also seeking to address the challenges some aspiring homeowners face due to their chosen careers or lifestyles. This will be further implemented in 2023.