Statutory profit before rose by 57 per cent from £320m to £502.5m for the year. Net interest income increased by 35 per cent year on year from £537.4m to £724.1m.
The society’s results come as new chief executive Susan Allen OBE, formerly Barclays head of customer transformation, takes over the reins from interim CEO Alasdair Lenman.
In 2022, the society’s mortgage loan book grew from £41.9bn to £43.7bn.
The lender acknowledged the challenges overshadowing the UK housing market. It said activity was likely to be constrained to some degree as long as the cost of living pressures continued to impact households, with economic tightening reducing housing demand and affordability criteria posing greater restrictions for prospective borrowers.
Low level of arrears
YBS said there was also the potential for some existing mortgage holders to be negatively impacted as house price falls increased the risk of negative equity and borrowers may struggle to keep up with monthly payments.
The society said the low risk profile of its mortgage book was reflected in the current level of arrears being much lower than the market average, as well as being one of the lowest it had observed historically.
Lenman said: “Our appetite to help people have a place to call home further strengthened our mortgage book and despite the absence of any government initiatives seen previously and the turmoil that followed the mini Budget, we saw record mortgage applications in May with overall mortgage balances increasing to £43.7bn during the year.
“Such growth and sustained strength in our financial performance means we’re able to reinvest profits in our ambitious transformation programme, which has continued at an efficient pace to better meet the needs of members and customers both now and in the future. Improvements to our digital journey for example, have helped to increase our customer satisfaction.”
