Outstanding first-half figures including a 25 per cent increase in pre-tax profits have been reported this week by the Skipton Building Society.

Year-on-year figures show group assets up 12.26 per cent to £5.9 billion, pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items up 25.26 per cent to £25.12 million, mortgage balances up 12.23 per cent and retail balances up 11.7 per cent.

Chief executive John Goodfellow, pictured, said: "During the first half of the year the Skipton has produced another outstanding set of results, building on our strong underlying performance in recent years.

"The robust trading performance of the society and its subsidiaries led to record first half profits.

"We have further promoted our philosophy of 'modern mutuality', which combines the ethos of a traditional building society with business enterprise, using the profits from our portfolio of successful commercial companies to reinforce and add value to the benefits that our mutual status offers our members."

He added: "The society remains confident about its prospects for the remainder of the year and beyond.

We will continue to offer our customers value, innovation and choice, and I believe that we are developing a structure which enables us to reward our members, staff and the communities we serve in both the short and the long term."