Unity Trust Bank has boosted pretax profits despite a fall in lending.

The Birmingham-based socially responsible bank, originally established in 1984 by the trades unions and the co-operative movement, notched pretax profits for last year of £5.95 million, an increase of 17.4 per cent over 2006.

Total retail deposits increased by 16 per cent to £495.2 million.

Loans and advances fell by 2.6 per cent to £74.9 million despite new ones totalling more than £25 million.

The bank said the reduction "resulted from changes to customer account grouping arrangements which increased the level of deposit and overdraft balances being aggregated".

Total assets were up 14.3 per cent to £539.2 million. The bank is paying total dividends for the year of 7.5p per share.

Kevin Turmore, managing director, said: "The bank’s financial performance is extremely encouraging.

"Unity has achieved considerable business growth in a number of sectors and has done so profitably. More importantly, this growth has been achieved without losing sight of the bank’s commitment to social responsibility."

Lord Fyfe, chairman of Unity, said: "The social economy continues to play a key role in Unity’s strategy.

"As a bank with social responsibility at its core, it will continue to strive to become the bank of choice for this sector. These encouraging results show that Unity truly understands the banking and finance needs of the sectors in which it operates."

Dave Prentis, Bank president, said: "With the bank’s roots in the trades unions, it is a practical example of how prudent financial expertise can co-exist with a strong social commitment.

"It is also very pleasing to see Unity continuing to recognise that businesses do not exist in isolation and that their actions have an effect on their employees, customers, suppliers and the wider community."