Newcastle Building Society said its profit before tax rose 11% to £14.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, as its assets grew to exceed £4.4 billion.

Newcastle said its gross mortgage lending of £931 million was a 79% increase over 2018 and net core residential lending of £575 million was more than 3.5 times higher than 2018.

Overall net savings balances grew 25% to £687 million.

“The Society continued its focus on core residential lending while winding down legacy portfolios,” said Newcastle Building Society CEO Andrew Haigh.

“The net increase in customer loans and advances was £523m overall in 2019 and included a £575m net increase in core residential, of which £94m was in buy to let …

“I am very pleased to have welcomed over 40,000 additional customers to our Society …

“Alongside a 12% net growth in customers, I am also pleased to report an increase in profit, strong capital ratios, good liquidity and low credit risk across our mortgage book – all key measures of how we are building a long term, sustainable business …”