Tag Archives: results

Charity, FInance, Finance News

Swansea Building Society Reports Record Results, Presents Major Donation to Maggie’s at AGM

At the annual general meeting (AGM) hosted at the Swansea.com Stadium on Thursday, April 25, Swansea Building Society unveiled outstanding financial results for the year. Additionally, the Society showcased its dedication to community support by presenting a significant donation to Maggie’s, amounting to more than a pound per vote received.

At the well-attended event the board of the Society presented and explained its best-ever set of results to members as it benefitted from supporting local communities from its growing network of local branches across South Wales while reaping the rewards of an investment programme it started in 2015.

The Society was thanked by a representative from cancer charity Maggie’s, which received almost £20,000 of donations from the Building Society last year. This figure was topped by a further donation of £2,000 rounded up based on the almost 1900 votes it received from members, the highest number of votes ever submitted.

Alun Williams, Chief Executive of Swansea Building Society, said:

“As we reflect on the past year, I am pleased to announce that Swansea Building Society has achieved an unprecedented level of success, despite navigating through turbulent market conditions. Our steadfast commitment to serving the needs of both borrowers and savers amidst a challenging backdrop of cost-of-living crises, fluctuating house prices, and rising interest rates fills me with immense pride.

“Furthermore, throughout our centenary year, the dedication and care exhibited by my colleagues surpassed all expectations, reaffirming our unwavering commitment to our members. Central to our mission is our dedication to social responsibility and community impact. Beyond our core products and services, we have been proud to contribute our time, skills, and resources to support local initiatives. In commemoration of our milestone anniversary last year, we proudly donated an additional £100k to local charities alongside our ongoing support for Maggie’s, our official charity partner.

“Looking ahead, Swansea Building Society is poised to navigate the complexities of today’s economic landscape with confidence. Our strategic focus on digital transformation underscores our commitment to adaptability and innovation, ensuring our members experience continual enhancements in our products and services. The sustained growth and profitability we’ve experienced in recent years will enable us to make strategic investments that benefit both our current and future members.”

Lucia Osmond, Centre Fundraising Manager, Maggie’s, said:

“We extend a massive thanks to Swansea Building Society and are so grateful that the Society has extended its support of our charity for a third year. Our centres now cover the whole of Wales, but we cannot do what we do without this kind of support. So, thanks again to the Society team and its members for their continuing generosity.”

The Society achieved double digit growth in its total assets, mortgages, savings and capital last year despite the difficult economic environment.

For the year to December 31, 2023, total assets grew by 15% driven by mortgages and savings growth of 16% and 15% respectively. Total assets increased by £77.2 million to £607 million, savings balances increased by £72.6 million to £565.5 million, while mortgage balances grew by £66.9 million to £477.8 million. The Society’s mortgage growth was driven by gross mortgage completions of £120.1 million, another record, beating the previous highest set in 2021.

The Society’s growth was supported by record profits before tax of £6.2 million, beating the previous record of £5.4 million achieved in 2022. This increased the Society’s capital reserves to £39.8 million. This is vitally important to the Society, as it provides greater reserves to support members achieve their financial goals.

Swansea Building Society remains one of the few financial institutions in the UK that receives no wholesale funding or support from the Bank of England in the form of cheap funding. Its balance sheet is funded entirely by customer savings balances and its own capital reserves built up from retained profits over many years.

Accountancy, Research

Economic confidence among finance professionals hits highest level since first half of 2023 

  • Although accountants have become more positive about the economy for the first time since Q1 2023, concerns about costs persist   
  • Global concerns about operating costs rose, as did uncertainty around geopolitical tensions and talent acquisition challenges
  • UK SMEs have experienced a similar buoying of confidence, but still face a tough economic landscape to navigate

 

Accountants and finance professionals are more confident in the global economy than they have been since early 2023.

 

The latest ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) saw a moderate increase in confidence to put the index just above its historical average. Add in small increases to the New Orders and Employment indices – both of which are slightly above their averages – and a positive picture emerges of a gradually improving economic outlook. That said, there was a small decline in the Capital Expenditure Index, which remains below average.

 

Encouragingly, there were gains in confidence in most regions. The rise in Asia Pacific was the third largest on record and may reflect growing confidence in the resilience of the US economy, signs of improvement in the Chinese data and wider global economy, and perhaps rising optimism that Japan may finally be exiting from its decades long battle against deflation. The moderate rise in confidence in Western Europe also suggests that growth may be gradually improving from the weakness of recent quarters.

 

On a less positive note, global concerns about increased operating costs rose, although they remain below their Q3 2022 peak. Interestingly, concerns about costs eased again in the advanced economies of North America and Western Europe while remaining elevated by historical standards. By contrast, cost concerns rose noticeably in Africa, Asia Pacific, and South Asia.

 

Additionally, Q1 2024 responses from the Global Risks Survey section of the GECS report demonstrate how the ripple effects of economic uncertainty have been exacerbated by rising geopolitical and talent scarcity challenges. Respondents across all sectors and regions said that they are feeling the impact of talent retention risks, with numerous respondents describing the skills shortage as an epidemic. Cybersecurity is also viewed as a significant threat, especially with advancements in generative AI making ransomware and other cybercrimes increasingly easier and quicker to carry out.

 

Jonathan Ashworth, chief economist, ACCA, said: “The survey points to some improvement in global growth. Nevertheless, while encouraging, it is no time to celebrate just yet, with the global economy facing many risks and challenges and still set for below average growth in 2024. Moreover, the elevated level of concerns about costs suggests that the major central banks should proceed very cautiously with any monetary easing.”

 

Specifically discussing the economic backdrop for UK SMEs, Glenn Collins, head of technical and strategic engagement, ACCA UK, added: “Confidence among UK SMEs increased quite materially in Q1 2024 and is only moderately below its historical average. The New Orders Index declined but is close to its average. The Capital Expenditure Index increased sharply for the second consecutive quarter and is now just above average, but the Employment Index declined again and looks weak by historical standards.

 

“Overall, the broad trend of the key activity indicators (save employment) over recent quarters points to some improvement in the economic backdrop for UK SMEs. Nevertheless, some of the early indicators of corporate stress increased in Q1. Worryingly, problems securing prompt payment, problems accessing finance, and concerns about customers going out of business all rose and are above their historical averages. This does highlight that businesses need to review their finance plans.”

 

Susie Duong, senior director of research and thought leadership at IMA, said of the report: “The continued improvement in confidence in North America, and the rise in the other indicators, likely reflects growing optimism that the US economy is on course for a ‘soft landing’ or perhaps no landing at all in 2024. That would clearly be welcome news for businesses, although it means we are likely to see less monetary easing by the Federal Reserve this year than investors expected a few months ago.”

 

Read the full report here.

 

Visit ACCA’s website for more information.

Business News, News

Westcon-Comstor reports FY22 financial results

Revenue up 11.8% to US$2 890.4 million following demand for all technologies in the Westcon International portfolio

LONDON, UK – 24th May 2022 – Westcon-Comstor (Westcon International) reported its FY22 earnings results earlier today. Total net revenue was up by 11.8% to US$ $2.89 Billion driven by strong demand and market share in its cybersecurity portfolio, networking and hybrid infrastructure offers and its remote access and cloud collaboration solutions which were deployed in new flexible working environments.

EBITDA profit increased by 52% to US$68.1 million (FY21: US$44.8 million) with gross margins averaging 11% globally. Westcon International’s gross profit increased by 9.6% to US$319.0 million (FY21: US$291.0 million) supported by strong results in both Europe and Asia-Pacific.

“Two years ago, our company demonstrated strong resilience in the face of the pandemic and the FY22 results we announced today illustrate our ability to not just sustain strong momentum but to go beyond and adapt and win in a rapidly changing market”, commented David Grant, CEO of Westcon-Comstor.

“Our focus on portfolio expansion with software and subscription-based solutions has helped us to not only record double-digit, organic revenue growth– despite material product supply constraints– but to drive unprecedented EBITDA improvement as well. It’s a true testament to the hard work of our teams across all operations, who have performed exceptionally well this last year.”

Westcon-Comstor announced that demand for its solutions continued to climb, coupled with supply constraints and chip shortages, its backlog of orders increased over 300% (from US$261 million for FY21 to US$824 million for FY22.)

“Multi-year investments we’ve made in business automation and digital tools are paying dividends as well. Our focus on Solutions Lifecycle Management and building Flexible payment solutions helped us to ensure that over 50% of our gross revenue in FY22 was recurring; we see that percentage growing as we go into FY23”, added David Grant.