Established in 1848, the mutual has seen its balance sheet grow by nearly 40% in the last two years, leading to a pre-tax profit of £2.4 million and mortgage assets of £454m.

The society’s total assets reached £592.8m, compared to £525.7m in 2021, while its liquid assets for the period stood at £132.8m, compared to £113.8m for the year before.

The society also posted mortgage assets of £453.7m, compared to £409.2m in 2021, signalling mortgage asset growth of 10.9%. The society now has £37.4m in cash reserves, compared to £53.7m in 2021. In total, the society’s gross capital stood at 6.8%, slightly lower than the 7.2% reported in 2021. 

The society, which only offers savings and mortgage accounts, ascribed the growth to customers seeking both value and purpose when joining SBS.

The society’s chief executive, Paul Denton, said: “We are as committed to our wider purpose today, as we were back in 1848. As a mutual society, we reward our members with fair interest rates whilst responsibly using those funds to provide flexible mortgages, enabling Scottish people to buy homes and get on the property ladder.

“The environment has changed over the years, but that simple strategy has helped the Society survive and thrive towards its 175th anniversary next year.”

As the society is a mutually owned organisation, it has been able to offer its members savings accounts above market average interest rates, helping people get the most out of their money.

Mr Denton continued: “Despite the historic low base rate, we have continued to pay savings rates above the market average, whilst our income has benefitted by growing our mortgage balances more than 36% in the last two years. We are now helping more members buy their homes than ever before, which is something we are incredibly proud of in today’s fierce mortgage market.

“As a mutual, unlike the high street banks, we do not have shareholders, so all profits are reinvested into the business, in areas such as in new digital technologies, improving our member experience and increasing our capital base to support future growth.”

Mr Denton credits the staff at SBS for their “immense work” during the pandemic as one of the reasons why the society has performed so strongly.

He explained: “It has been without doubt two enormously difficult years from an economic and operational perspective, but our staff have delivered outstanding results despite these major challenges.

“Unlike retail banks who are moving out of towns and cities across the country, we are working harder than ever to provide for our members- be that through online or in-person banking.

“When many of our competitors sought to save money by cutting services, we were looking for ways to help our members, by offering compelling interest rates for savers and have now helped a record number of people own their own home.”