Britains Nationwide annual profit nearly doubles

　　LONDON Reuters Nationwide Building Society reported its annual profit nearly doubled on Friday, as it largely shrugged off the impact of the COVID19 crisis and rising inflation on Britains economy. p

　　pThe customerowned lender reported pretax profits for the fiscal year ended April 4 of 1.6 billion pounds 2.00 billion, up from 823 million pounds the previous year.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

　　“Our financial performance for the year was better than anticipated, as market conditions recovered more strongly than expected over the course of the year, leading to significantly higher profits,” Chief Executive Joe Garner said.

　　pIt was Garners last set of results at the helm before handing over to former TSB Chief Executive Debbie Crosbie on June 2.

　　pBritain‘s secondbiggest provider of home loans, Nationwide competes with the country’s big banks but unlike them is owned by its customers.

　　pNationwides finances were lifted by a strong economic recovery from pandemic lockdowns, including a 6.9 billion pound leap in gross mortgage lending as it benefitted from a buoyant housing market.

　　pThe lender nonetheless said member benefit, a measure it uses to measure benefits it offers that better the market average, remained below its target at 325 million pounds due to low interest rates and strong price competition in the redhot mortgage market.

　　pIts listed big banking rivals such as Lloyds and NatWest last month reported rising profits but warned of a possible hit to growth from Britains looming cost of living crisis as fuel and food costs soar. p

　　p1 0.8013 pounds