Newcastle Building Society said its assets rose 17% to to £6.2 billion in 2023 as the mutual reported gross mortgage lending for the year of £1.1 billion, equalling last year’s record performance, and net core residential lending of £575 million.
The mutual said its profit for the year before taxation fell slightly to £29.1 million from £32.6 million.
The society’s subsidiary Newcastle Strategic Solutions Limited provides an outsourcing service to other banks and building societies to manage their savings operations on their behalf.
“In 2023, the Solutions’ business continued to support clients with record volumes of account opening and retail deposit growth, now managing over 1.5m savings accounts and approaching £50bn in savings balances on behalf of clients,” said Newcastle.
The society reported average savings rates of 3.03% over the year “compared to a market average of 2.46%, equating to an additional £25m interest for members over the period.”
It reported a “competitive standard variable rate (SVR) for mortgages 1.24% lower than the market average, saving our SVR borrowers over £2.3m in interest payments compared to the market average.”
Newcastle Building Society CEO Andrew Haigh said: “I’m proud that, as a Society, we have remained true to our purpose of ‘connecting our communities with a better financial future’ while delivering another set of strong results in 2023.
“We have continued to focus on the strategic ambitions underpinning our purpose of achieving growth, investing in the group’s infrastructure for the long term and of course, delivering value for our members.
“The volatile market conditions throughout 2023 will have impacted all our members but borrowers, and especially those remortgaging from historically low fixed rates to the higher rates that prevailed during the year, faced higher repayments, adding to the squeeze on their household finances.
“My hope is that members recognise the value that comes with being part of our mutual organisation; the additional support we’ve provided to those worried about their mortgage repayments, consistently offering savings rates above the market average and making a positive difference in our communities across key areas of focus, including our commitment to branches, increasing access to face-to-face financial services and fostering employability within the region.”