Swindon’s largest employer Nationwide has seen profits slump for the second year in a row.

The largest mutual and building society in the UK, employing around 7,000 staff at its headquarters and branches in Swindon, reported a 7.3 per cent drop in statutory profits for the year to April 4 2018, down from £1.054bn the previous year.

It cited “intense competition” affecting demand for savings and mortgage lending, which dropped to £5.8 billion from £8.8 billion.

The results follow on from a 23 per cent fall in annual profits last year as chiefs at the bank sought to reassure members.

Chief financial officerMark Rennison said: “Nationwide continues to trade strongly in spite of intense competition in our core markets, in a number of cases choosing to protect value for members through more competitive pricing rather than taking the opportunity to enhance margin.”

Chief executive Joe Garner added: “We anticipate modest growth in our core product markets, reflecting the outlook for the economy as a whole.

“With employment growth expected to slow and pressure on household budgets fading only gradually, mortgage lending is likely to rise at a fairly pedestrian pace.”

The group also issued a mild caution over the “subdued” housing market, predicting house price growth to slow to one per cent over the next year.

It added the UK economy would remain “resilient”, although it forecasts growth to remain modest, between one and 1.5 per cent over the next two years.

The mutual has 15 million members and employs 18,000 staff the UK and is rated number one for customer satisfaction.

It is the largest member-owned building society in the UK without shareholders. It is currently planning to launch a mutual alternative to small business lending through funding from the government to be announced later this year.