Coventry Building Society has announced record profits of £52.8 million during the first six months of 2011.

The society’s pre-tax profits to June this year represented a 17 per cent increase over the same period in 2011 and it also enjoyed a record share of the UK mortgage market.

Mortgage assets increased by £1.8 billion to £21.0 billion and new mortgage lending increased by 33 per cent to £2.5 billion.

Net mortgage lending was £1.3 billion, equivalent to 45 per cent of all net mortgage lending in the UK.

Another record for the society saw savings balances increased by £300 million to £19.3 billion.

Coventry has continued to be resillient in tough economic times and has maintained a strong ‘A’ credit rating during the downturn.

It has also avoided any direct exposure to either the sovereign debt or the banks of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece or Spain.

Chief executive David Stewart said: “Coventry continues to make strong progress, building on the excellent record established since the onset of the credit crisis.

“In the first half of 2012 we achieved record profits whilst our net mortgage lending was equivalent to 45 per cent of the market as a whole.

“In spite of fierce competition, savings balances grew further to a record £19.3 billion.

“Further evidence of the society’s continued strength can be found in our credit ratings and Coventry is now the only rated UK high street bank or building society not to have been downgraded by any rating agency in any of the last three years.

“I remain confident that the society is well positioned to continue to prosper in what is still an uncertain economic environment.

“Throughout the financial crisis, we have sustained a consistent appetite for new mortgage lending and market conditions continue to favour our business model.”