Mark Parsons, Coventry Building Society chief executive said: “Coventry Building Society delivered a strong and balanced performance in 2017, maintaining our record of savings and mortgage growth, excellent member service and a robust financial position.
“This was driven by our clear and consistent focus on Putting Members First. We have grown our membership, attracted record savings deposits and increased mortgage balances nearly three times faster than the market, sustaining our position as a top 10 UK mortgage and savings provider.”
Savings providers
Coventry noted that it became the first UK savings provider to compare its own savings products directly with competing products on its website, which reflected its confidence in its ‘strong rates.’
It said it is one of only four UK savings providers to become a Which? recommended provider for savings accounts, an approach that has grown savings balances by 11%, which in turn supported its 2017 mortgage performance.
“This was a strong performance in an environment that has shown some softening of house purchase demand and strengthening of mortgage rate competition. Our performance was underpinned by well-priced products in the lower loan to value (LTV) and remortgage segments of the market,” it said.
The average LTV in its mortgage book is 47%.
Mortgage market outlook
“Looking forward, we expect price competition in the mortgage market to remain and margins to tighten further. However, our low-cost operating model means that we will be able to continue to offer attractive long-term value to savings and mortgage members,” it said.
Management expenses increased to £167.9m last year, up from £149.5m in 2016, with almost half spent on core IT infrastructure and change investment.
The society said: “We’re making a significant investment in our core banking and mortgage systems. While this won’t be obvious or visible to brokers straight away, this is all part of our commitment to brokers and providing the best service we can to them both now and in the future.”
Statutory profit before tax at the building society increased by 2% to £242.7m, up from £239.1m the previous year.
