Nationwide commits to membership as profit dips
Nationwide Building Society has seen annual profits fall by almost a fifth after taking a £227 million hit on its technology assets and ramping up spending on IT.
The mutual reported a 19 per cent drop in underlying pretax profits to £788m for the year to 4 April. On a statuto - ry basis, pre-tax profits fell to £833m from £977m the previous year.
Chief executive Joe Garner said the society took the profit knock to put member interests first, but delivered abovetarget financial benefits to its membership base of £705m.
He said: “During the year, we also announced a significant boost in our technology investment over five years to ensure we continue to excel on service.”
The figures come after Nationwide recently pledged to retain a branch in any town or city where it currently has a presence for at least two years. It is committed to spending£350m over five years to ensure its branches remain relevant to the needs of people.