Leeds building society announces record savings
At a time when the UK banking sector, and the building society sector especially, is under pressure, today saw the Leeds building society announce record savings and more than 71,000 new customers over the year. This now takes the building society's membership number to 680,000 with savings now standing at £6.8 billion, an increase of £225 million over the period in question. Profits at the building society also increased by 51% to £31.7 million buoyed by an impressive control of the society's cost base - the cost income ratio is just 36%, the lowest in the sector.
The only fly in the ointment was the announcement of a £52.5 million provision set to one side against potential losses on loans and mortgages. This compares unfavourably to the £32.1 million provision put aside in 2008. However, when you take into account that the UK financial sector has just about come through one of the most difficult periods in living history these figures are by far away the most impressive of the building society sector and appear to turn recent comments about the sector on their heads.
It will be interesting to see whether other building societies have fared as well as the Leeds building society in what is still a very challenging and very difficult environment.
Share this..
Related stories
Lloyds Bank announces charging changes
Lloyds Bank, the majority taxpayer owned financial giant, has today announced a range of charging changes which will impact customers in the short to medium term. The bank will scrap the £15 "unplanned overdraft fee" in December 2010 and replace this with a basic £5 "overdraft usage fee" for customers who slip into the red, whether planned or unplanned. The "returned item fee" will also be reduc...
Read MoreRed-faced Barclays shamed by BBC
Barclays faces investigation after a BBC programme revealed that the bank's sales team breached data protection rules and misled customers.BBC's Whistleblower show sent two undercover reporters to work at Barclays call centres for nine-month periods, where they claimed to have witnessed employees making sales calls to people who had requested not to be contacted, accessing client files for no vali...
Read MoreCitigroup looking to offload Egg
US financial giant Citigroup is reported to be looking for buyers for its Egg Internet banking operation which was acquired back in 2007 for over £500 million. The operation, which was originally part of the Prudential Group, has been hit by the difficult trading climate in the UK and posted a loss of £106 million in the six months to June 2009. However, it is the underlying financial strength o...
Read MoreIcelandic government now in control of Landsbanki
News that the Icelandic government has seized control of the country's second largest banking operation, Landsbanki, does not bode well for the immediate future of the Icelandic financial sector. While normally this would not have registered in the UK press it seems as though many thousands of UK customers have become embroiled in the saga.
Landsbanki has an internet business, whic...
Banks must do more to prevent ID theft, says regulator
Financial services firms have been urged to tighten up their security practices after a report uncovered a lax attitude to preventing identity theft. A survey of security at 39 firms conducted by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) found that around half provided no training for staff over preventing the theft of customers' details. In response, the FSA has called for banks and building societi...
Read More