Swansea Building Society has reported its best ever financial results as it reaffirms its commitment to the high street.
For its 2021 financial year, the society saw total assets rise by £49.1m to £463.5m - a 12% increase on the previous year.
The Swansea-headquartered mutual, posted a record pre-tax profit of £5.2m, compared to £3.3m in 2020.
Its mortgage balances saw a growth rate of 19%, growing by £58m to £360.9m. The record growth was driven by the mutual completing lending of £114.7m - an increase of 71% from £67.1m on the previous year.
Swansea Building Society is one of the few financial organisations in the UK that receives no wholesale funding or support from the Bank of England in the form of cheap funding. Its balance sheet is funded entirely by customer savings balances and its own capital reserves built up from retained profits over many years.
It has offices in Mumbles, Carmarthen and Cowbridge, as well as its head office on Cradock Street, Swansea.
In contrast to other banks and building societies, the mutual has continued to keep its high street branches open, which benefitted it through the pandemic as more customers, worried by the economic uncertainty, sought its local service.
Chief executive of the society, Alun Williams said: “The Society carries out regular customer satisfaction surveys and consistently scores above 90%, even during the various lockdowns and the Covid-19 pandemic. We are pleased that this reflects the positive way that our employees are engaged and know how to meet the needs of our customers.
“As ever, as a mutual, our profits will be reinvested into the business, strengthening our capital base so that we can continue to support our members and offer competitive saving and lending rates. They will be used for the future development of the society as we consider further expansion and new branches across Wales."
Mr Williams added: “We continue to invest heavily for the future of the business in terms of people, IT and premises as we ready ourselves for a further period of sustainable growth. Our budgets for 2022 indicate we will continue to grow our balance sheet and capital reserves as a result of the increasing volume of mortgage assets that the society now holds.
“The economic environment, particularly the impact of inflation on the UK economy, continues to be uncertain. Despite this, we do not believe that it will have a significant negative impact on the society and its business model. The society will continue to be resilient in meeting future challenges such as potential further interest rate increases along with the increased cost of living and inflation. Our goal is to deliver first class services whilst growing our balance sheet and capital in a controlled manner.”
