Principality Building Society Principality annual report (2975P)
February 17 2021 - 1:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDM10AI
RNS Number : 2975P
Principality Building Society
17 February 2021
Principality Building Society Annual Results Announcement for
the year ended 31 December 2020
Principality performs well as it supports customers during
pandemic
Principality has posted good annual results for 2020, as it
focused all its efforts on supporting members, customers and
colleagues during a challenging year. The building society granted
more than 15,000 homeowners a mortgage payment deferral, helping
them to cope with the financial uncertainty created by the COVID-19
pandemic and supported communities by keeping its branches open
throughout the lockdown periods.
Wales' largest building society saw its assets grow to more than
GBP11bn for the first time in its history, as it saw retail
mortgage lending increased by GBP182m this year (2019: GBP499m),
taking total retail lending over GBP8bn for the first time, despite
the UK housing market coming to a standstill for the best part of
four months in the first half of the year.
Last year the business signposted an expected reduction in
profits in 2020 due to continued investment in technology to
transform its core mortgage and savings operations. In addition, it
also increased provision levels by GBP9.1m (2019: release of
GBP4.1m) to cover potential future losses arising from the economic
downturn caused by the pandemic. Whilst no significant credit
losses have been incurred to date, Principality recognises that
some customers may experience financial difficulties over the next
few years, and its conservative approach takes into account
economic forecasts of factors including unemployment levels and
property prices.
Principality has strong capital reserves but this prudent
approach has had a significant impact on results for 2020,
resulting in an underlying profit before tax of GBP24.1m (2019:
GBP39.8m) and statutory profit before tax of GBP19.9m (2019:
GBP39.6m).
For the third year running Principality has won the What
Mortgage award for Best Building Society Customer Service. This is
reflected in the Society's Net Promoter Score which is well above
the sector average at 79.8%, meaning almost eight out of 10 of
members say they would recommend Principality to family or friends
based on their level of satisfaction.
CEO Julie-Ann Haines said: " Despite facing significant
disruption and uncertainty this year, we maintained our
award-winning customer service and delivered essential service for
our members when they needed us most.
"During the first half of the year we had to deal with a number
of operational challenges, not least enabling around 800 colleagues
from our head office to work effectively from home. The strength
and resilience of our business has allowed us to keep everyone in
employment and not to furlough anyone. We strive to create a
friendly, open and inclusive culture, and our colleagues continue
to make us stand out in the sector with their warmth, personal
approach and empathy.
"As promised last year, we continued to invest previous profits
back into the business to boost our technology so we could offer
our members improvements to their customer service. Our enhanced
online security has made members' accounts more secure, and a new
web chat function has been added to improve the customer
experience. In response to customer feedback, we have also
increased the range of products available to customers online. Our
ambition is to move at pace in the next few years and we will
continue to invest in the Society to improve our proposition and
offer greater flexibility to our members. This will be complemented
by fantastic service through our branches in Wales and along the
borders with England."
Principality's Commercial team once again contributed in helping
communities, with work completed on the second phase of affordable
homes at The Mill development in Cardiff. The team have now
completed GBP55m of the GBP75m affordable housing fund established
in 2018 and this has seen take-up from housing associations across
all corners of Wales. It will continue to focus its efforts to make
housing more environmentally sustainable and support house-builders
through funding of solar powered and zero carbon homes.
Now more than ever, Principality has continued to invest in
financial education by partnering with Young Money for their Fiver
Challenge which encourages the development of entrepreneurial and
financial education skills for children, while raising money for
local causes. More than 8,000 children signed up for this digital
challenge through their schools.
On the the outlook for 2021 Julie-Ann added: "We expect the
economic environment to remain challenging in 2021 and beyond as
the impact of the pandemic continues to be felt. In these difficult
circumstances, I want to assure members that Principality remains a
safe home for their savings, and has the strength to resist the
turbulence we are all facing. Our strategy and long term priorities
remain unchanged and, while our immediate focus remains on helping
members, colleagues and communities through these uncertain times,
we are committed to developing and growing our business in a safe
and sustainable way."
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
-- Total assets - GBP11.1bn (2019: GBP10.7bn)
-- Underlying profit before tax - GBP24.1m (2019: GBP39.8m)
-- Statutory profit before tax - GBP19.9m (2019: GBP39.6m)
-- Net residential mortgage growth - GBP182.2m (2019: GBP499.3m)
-- Residential mortgage balances - GBP8,175.7m (2019: GBP7,993.5m)
-- Savings balances - GBP8.2bn (2019: GBP7.6bn)
-- Saving balance - increase is GBP596.1m (2019: GBP598.7m)
-- NPS - 79.8 (2019: 81.5)
-- Capital (CET1 ratio) - 27.10% (2019: 26.20%)
-- % of mortgages funded by savers - 88.9% (2019: 84.0%)
-- Charity fundraising total - just over GBP152,000
-- Employee engagement score - 86% (2019: 77%)
-- Formed in 1860, Principality is Wales's largest building society.
-- The Society is committed to supporting the communities of
Wales, with 53 branches and 16 agencies in Wales and the
borders.
-- Principality is the 6th largest building society in the UK.
-- The Society has assets of over GBP11.1 billion.
www.principality.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
ACSBLGDDXBBDGBL
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 17, 2021 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Princ.b.s. 23 (LSE:10AI)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Princ.b.s. 23 (LSE:10AI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024