Skipton ups mortgage lending but profit falls

Gross mortgage lending stood at £2.4bn in H1 2017, up from £1.9bn in H1 2016.

Skipton ups mortgage lending but profit falls

Skipton Building Society increased mortgage lending by 20.7% in the first six months of 2017 from the same period last year – but profit fell by 9.8% over the same timespan.

Gross mortgage lending stood at £2.4bn in H1 2017, up from £1.9bn in H1 2016. But pre-tax profit fell to £67m from £76.8m.

Mortgage Introducerasked Skipton to explain why profit fell despite the positive results elsewhere but it failed to respond.

Its underlying profit before tax rose by 14.2% to £87.4m from £73.2m over the period.

David Cutter, Skipton’s group chief executive, said: “These are yet another set of strong results for Skipton, and we have seen continued strong growth in our mortgage and savings balances whilst continuing to build our capital base.

“The more challenging economic environment coincides with a period of increased political uncertainty, as not only is the government in the early stages of negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, but an unexpected General Election resulted in a hung Parliament.

“These conditions make forecasting difficult and create a need for caution.

“We remain vigilant regarding potential economic headwinds, but the capital and funding actions taken during the period mean we are well placed to manage the risks that we face and to capitalise upon any opportunities that may arise for the benefit of our members.”