Nationwide increase gross lending and announce new small business loan scheme

Nationwide increased its gross lending by 44% in the twelve months to April 4 2012, to reach £18.4bn, up from £12.8bn in 2011. The lender has also announced plans to enter the small business lending market. The building society has helped over 24,000 first-time buyers get on the property ladder during the year and this is a 9% increase on last year. The lender also estimates this it has cost £750m to maintain their old standard variable rate capped at 2% above the Bank of England's 0.5% base rate. Nationwide's underlying profits rose by 10% to £304m in the year, but the profits were reduced by £103m due to charges from complaints relating to the mis-selling of PPI. May 25, 2012