West Bromwich Building Society has seen a rise in pre-tax profit, overall income and mortgage lending for the year to 31 March 2018.

The organisation is the UK’s seventh largest building society with 37 branches across the Midlands, Shropshire and Wales. However, in June 2016 it lost a court battle and was ordered to pay back £27.5m in interest to buy-to-let landlords, resulting in an overall loss of £19.8m in the financial year to March 2017.

This reversal has now been overturned, with a set of very positive results announced for 2017-18. Pre-tax profit is up to £8.8m, a huge rise compared to last year’s loss. Chief Executive Jonathan Westhoff estimates that, even if factoring out the one-off interest repayment, this represents an underlying rise in profit of 14 per cent.

Total income rose from £62.4m to £64.5m, residential mortgage advances saw an 18 per cent increase from £712m to £837, while lending to first time buyers rose from £167m to £265m, the highest figure in the building society’s history.

The organisation’s success has been attributed to its support of first time buyers. The maximum loan available was increased to 95 per cent of house value, and a government-backed ‘Help to Buy ISA’ account was introduced, to help buyers save up for a deposit. This focus on providing mortgages and savings products to support building society members into home ownership has seen this area of the business grow for the fifth year in succession.

Think Sandwell congratulates West Bromwich Building Society on its success. To find out how we can help you grow your business, visit our Business Services pages.