Our half year results
We recently announced our half year financial results, reporting robust performance in the first half of the year, reflecting a buoyant mortgage market. Our operating profit before impairments and provisions was £13m for the six months ended 30 June 2021, compared to £7.3m for the first half of 2020. Despite continued macro-economic uncertainty, we have held credit and legacy provisioning largely constant since 2020, reflecting a strong underlying business performance.
A strong mortgage market in 2021, fuelled by a combination of government intervention and a shift in the needs of home owners, helped us report gross mortgage lending of £483m for the first half of the year. That figure represents a 35% increase on the first half of 2020, a period which was significantly impacted by the first national lockdown.
Net core residential lending was £220m, compared to £228m delivered in full year 2020. Mortgage arrears remain at low levels at 0.43% demonstrating the consistent quality of our mortgage lending.
In the first half of 2021, we welcomed more than 2,300 new mortgage customers, and whilst mortgage lending volumes have increased, we maintained a sensible lending approach. The difficulties of raising a deposit, compounded by a heated housing market has meant the dream of home ownership has stayed out of reach for many people, so we took steps to support low deposit borrowers through participation in two new innovative mortgage schemes.
We have also achieved success in winning the Best Regional Building Society award for the fifth consecutive year at the What Mortgage Awards, as voted for by intermediaries and the general public.
None of these achievements and record breaking performances would have been possible without the relationships we have built with our Intermediary partners across the UK, as you are responsible for a huge part of our success. You play a vital role in providing customers with the advice they need for one of the most complex financial decisions they have to make and without your continued support we would not have been able to help as many customers as we have to buy their own home.
We continue to listen to how we can help your clients. Across 2021, we have made positive steps to demonstrate our commitment to the Intermediary market through:
- Launching innovative products that meet your customer's needs, whatever their circumstances, and providing support for first time buyers and borrowers with low deposits;
- Supporting first time buyers through participation in the Government First Home scheme to support affordable home ownership;
- Becoming the first lender to offer mortgages under a new innovative new build homes scheme, Deposit Unlock scheme, supporting those with a small deposit to get a foot on the housing ladder;
- Offering 95% LTV mortgages and continue to offer products under Help to Buy;
- Helping customers looking to increase their borrowing capability, our Joint Mortgage Sole Proprietor mortgage allows the borrower to use the income of a family member to calculate affordability; and
- Continuing to evolve our criteria and underwriting service to ensure that we can deal with complex scenarios that require common sense, practical decision making, which other lenders may not consider.
We truly value the role you play in our success and would like to thank you all for your continued support. Continuing to focus on what is right for you and your clients, we have many more initiatives set to launch in the second half of the year. We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with you.
You can read the full Stock Exchange Announcement here.
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