Britain’s Nationwide Building Society on Friday reported soaring annual profits, but warned on the impact of surging inflation on house prices.
The UK’s second biggest mortgage lender said pre-tax profit for the year ended to April 4 almost doubled to £1.6bn from £823m a year earlier.
However, chief executive Joe Garner warned that price rises were starting to hurt customers, as inflation hit its highest level in 40 years.
“The emergence of higher inflation, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, is likely to exert a significant drag on the economy in the near term,” Garner said in his final results before handing over to former TSB chief executive Debbie Crosbie on June 2.
Nationwide’s reported a £6.9bn increase in gross mortgage lending as it benefitted from a buoyant housing market, but warned of a “risk of a downward movement in house prices, given the pressure on household budgets”.
