Nationwide results scarred by commercial property
The good part was the 56% rise in underlying profits to £475m but a decent chunk of property-related losses from the retail sector and elsewhere are washing up at Nationwide’s door
Nationwide is entitled to a boast or two. The building society had a decent crisis, maintaining capital strength and even helping up to mop up a few spillages elsewhere, such as the over-extended Dunfermline Building Society.
But chief executive Graham Beale should be careful not to overdo the hyperbole. A casual reader of Wednesday’s full-year figures could be forgiven for thinking the Nationwide had a near-perfect year. A better description would be: strong but with one horrible scar.