Nationwide Building Society H1 profits boosted by rising interest rates

Financial institution Nationwide Building Society said on Friday that interim profits had been boosted by heightened interest rates.

Statutory pre-tax profits grew £20.0m year-on-year to £989m in the six months ended 30 September as higher interest rates also supported growth in total underlying income to £2.45bn from £2.19bn the year before. Net interest margins were up from 1.48% at 1.66%.

Credit impairment charges were down at £54.0m as Nationwide said economic activity held up better than expected, and noted that there were early indications that the cost-of-living crisis was starting to ease.

However, the high street lender also saw a modest increase in bad loans, with 0.38% of its residential mortgages falling behind on repayments for more than three months, as it cautioned that inflation, economic uncertainty and high borrowing costs were still "key risks".

Chief executive Debbie Crosbie said: "Nationwide is performing strongly, and our strategy is to safeguard the future strength of the society and provide a good way to bank for customers. We are the main challenger to shareholder-owned banks and use our mutual status to make a meaningful impact on communities and improve society.

"Our rebrand in October 2023 was the most significant in 36 years and will help us to build stronger relationships with our customers, now and in the future."

As of 0920 GMT, Nationwide shares were up 1.97% at 116.25p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com