Profits rise for Dudley Building Society
Dudley Building Society has reported improved profits for 2021-2022.
For the year to the end of March the pre-tax profit figure was £2.91 million – from £2.21m a year earlier.
The 164-year-old society, which has its headquarters at Harbour Buildings at The Waterfront, Brierley Hill, has pledges to reinvest a percentage of profits into local communities over the current year.
The society, which has branches in Brierley Hill, Dudley, Gornal Wood, Kingswinford and Perton, faced another year of challenges because of coronavirus restrictions and the emerging cost-of-living crisis.
Mortgage lending before repayments was £71.1 million, which was an increase on last year’s figure of £21.3m and net lending was £4.3 million.
Chief executive Jeremy Wood said: “Over the last year, we have been delighted to welcome more members back into our branches as coronavirus restrictions have continued to ease. Throughout the year, 2,767 new saving accounts were opened, with 1,106 being children’s accounts following the introduction of a range of competitive accounts for young savers.
"Our focus on supporting existing borrowers has continued. We completely understand the financial strain that the increasing cost-of-living is having on members. The hard work of our customer facing teams has been invaluable and resulted in a reduction in the number of mortgages in arrears from 66 to 47.
"We have also been dedicated to supporting communities in and around our heartland of the Black Country wherever we can, giving back £13,000 to our community through donations, fundraising and sponsorships. Our dedication towards supporting local communities will continue to be a focus for us, as we have pledged to donate a percentage of our profits to our community initiatives in the forthcoming year.”
The society will hold its first face-to-face annual general meeting since 2019 on July 14.
"Sadly, this will be my final AGM as this will also be my last day at the society after 10 years. James Paterson will be taking the helm as chief executive, continuing to drive the society forwards," added Mr Wood.
