Skipton International Announces Record Profits for 2011

ST PETER PORT, Guernsey, February 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Skipton International has announced a 50% increase in profit before taxation to £6.188 million after the bank had reported business as "very good" during 2011 across its main trading areas of mortgages, personal savings and business deposits. Growth in its mortgage business across both Guernsey and Jersey was reported as a significant factor behind the strong trading figures.

Skipton International retained the coveted number one spot for new Guernsey mortgage lending it achieved for the first time in 2010 and grew its Jersey lending by 27%. Adding to its mortgage success, the bank has also won a "Commendation" for its portfolio of Guernsey based sterling deposit accounts from the specialist expatriate magazine Nexus. The award is based on independent Moneyfacts.co.uk data and is one of the few to look at the consistency of performance of an account. This adds to another "highly commended" award in the 'Best Offshore Business Deposit Accounts' category from Business Moneyfacts.

Skipton International is a strong and stable international bank in its own right, with customers in more than 100 countries worldwide. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Skipton Building Society, the UK's 4^th largest Building Society with assets of nearly £14bn.

Business is not the only story though. Skipton International has a long standing reputation for community involvement and is a regular contributor to Guernsey events encompassing sports, the arts and local good causes.   Two years ago, the bank became the lead sponsor of the Guernsey Swimarathon, now renamed the Skipton Swimarathon which has been raising funds for local good causes in Guernsey for over 35 years.

Managing Director Jim Coupe is looking forward to 2012. Commenting on the prospects for the next few years, he said, "Following our record profit in 2011, we are well placed to build on our success and deliver yet further value to an increasing number of customers, to whom we will continue to provide an extensive range of mortgages and deposit accounts. We will continue with our conservative, well capitalised business model, where we lend on residential mortgages. We are focussed on this business and we know it well. We also pride ourselves on our approach to customer service, taking the time to make sure each customer has the right mortgage or savings account for their circumstances. We will maintain our firm foundations of judiciousness and service and look forward to being able to increase customer choice further and extend our community involvement across the Channel Islands in 2012."

For more information on Skipton International savings or mortgage products, visit http://www.skiptoninternational.com or call +44 (0) 1481 727374

Editor's notes:

1. Skipton International Limited (SIL) will lend on residential properties in Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney and the criteria on maximum loan to value is as follows:

Next Generation Mortgage with third party security guarantee - 100%

Standard variable rate loans, fixed are loans, base rate tracker - residential only - up to 90%

Buy to let, base rate tracker residential - up to 80%

The maximum term is 25 years.

2. AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and illustrates what the interest rate would be if interest was paid and added each year.

3. Skipton International Limited (SIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Skipton Building Society (SBS), the UK's 4^th largest building society with nearly £14 billion assets.

4. SIL is licensed under the Banking Supervision (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 1994, as amended.

5. Skipton Building Society has given an undertaking agreeing to discharge the liabilities of SIL in so far as SIL is unable to discharge them out of it own assets and whilst SIL remains a subsidiary of Skipton Building Society.

6. As a Licensed Bank in Guernsey, Skipton International Limited is a participant in the Guernsey Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme (the "Scheme") established by The Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Ordinance, 2008 (the "Ordinance"). The following is a brief summary of the Scheme, but is not intended as a substitute for the actual wording of the Ordinance, a copy of which is available on request.

• The Scheme only applies to 'qualifying deposits', which broadly means deposits made by natural persons for their own benefit; with a few limited exceptions such as, for example, deposits made by trustees of retirement annuity trust schemes, the Scheme does not apply to companies, trusts, partnerships or charities.
• The Scheme will provide compensation in the event that a Licensed Bank is unable to repay its depositors. Under normal circumstances, payment will be made within 3 months of receipt of a valid claim form.
• Compensation is limited to a maximum of £50,000 per individual claimant; in the case of a joint account each depositor would be entitled.
• Total Scheme compensation in any five year period is limited to £100 million. If claims exceed this cap, compensation would be reduced pro rata. The cap also means that compensation in respect of any one bank cannot exceed £100 million.
• The amount payable may be reduced if the Bank has any contractual right of set-off against the account. The Scheme is entitled to recover compensation from any funds subsequently paid out by the Bank.
• Further information and a leaflet about the Scheme is available at: Website: http://www.dcs.gg - Telephone: +44(0)1481-722756 - Post: P.O. Box 380, St Peter Port, GY1 3FY

7. Deposits made with SIL are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme established under the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

8. SIL places funds with SBS and thus its financial standing is linked to SBS. Publicly available information, including reports and accounts, is available from http://www.skipton.co.uk.

9. Copies of the latest SIL audited accounts are available on request.

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