 has reported a drop in profits following "intense competition". Profits were down to £977 million for the year to 4 April,){kind=link}
Nationwide (LON: NBS) has reported a drop in profits following “intense competition”.
Profits were down to £977 million for the year to 4 April, down from £1.05 billion the same period in the previous year.
The mutual blamed the second annual decline a sharp fall in net mortgage lending and competition.
“Our view is price competition will continue, which is good news for customers,” said Mark Rennison, the Nationwide chief financial officer.
“Nationwide continues to trade strongly in spite of intense competition in our core markets, in a number of cases choosing to protect value for members through more competitive pricing rather than taking the opportunity to enhance margin.”
In the past year, the group attracted 816,000 new current accounts, more than any other group. Student account openings doubled to 21,000 after improving terms.
Profits for the group fell 18 percent last year after Nationwide protected customers from rock-bottom interest rates.
“As a member-owned organisation we don’t seek to maximise our profits but to manage them in our members’ interests. We make conscious choices about how we distribute our profitability between strategic investment, capital generation and member financial benefit,” said chief executive, Joe Garner.
Nationwide was also hit by the Bank of England’s term funding scheme, which was launched following the EU referendum.