Annual Financial Report

RNS Number : 2878O

Nationwide Building Society

29 May 2020

 

Nationwide Building Society

Preliminary Results Announcement

for the year ended

4 April 2020

CONTENTS

Key highlights and quotes	3
Financial summary	5
Chief Executive's review	6
Financial review	9
Risk report	18
Consolidated financial statements	78
Notes to the consolidated financial statements	83
Responsibility statement	109
Other information	109
Contacts	109

Underlying profit

Profit before tax shown on a statutory and underlying basis is set out on page 5 . Statutory profit before tax of £466 million has been adjusted to derive an underlying profit before tax of £469 million. The purpose of this measure is to reflect management's view of the Group's underlying performance and to assist with like for like comparisons of performance across periods. Underlying profit is not designed to measure sustainable levels of profitability as that potentially requires exclusion of non-recurring items even though they are closely related to (or even a direct consequence of) the Group's core business   activities.

The financial performance framework previously developed by the Society is no longer appropriate in the current economic conditions. Instead the Group is focused on maintaining a strong capital and liquidity position through the economic cycle.

Forward looking statements

Certain statements in this document are forward looking with respect to plans, goals and expectations relating to the future financial position, business performance and results of Nationwide. Although Nationwide believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, Nationwide can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be an accurate reflection of actual results. By their nature, all forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances that are beyond the control of Nationwide including, amongst other things, UK domestic and global economic and business conditions, market related risks such as fluctuation in interest rates and exchange rates, inflation/deflation, the impact of competition, changes in customer preferences, risks concerning borrower credit quality, delays in implementing proposals, the timing, impact and other uncertainties of future acquisitions or other combinations within relevant industries, the policies and actions of regulatory authorities, the impact of tax or other legislation and other regulations in the jurisdictions in which Nationwide operates. The economic outlook also remains unusually uncertain due to Brexit and the impacts of Covid-19. As a result, Nationwide's actual future financial condition, business performance and results may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Due to such risks and uncertainties Nationwide cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Nationwide undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This document does not constitute or form part of an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Any public offering to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from Nationwide and will contain detailed information about Nationwide and management as well as financial statements.

Nationwide Building Society's record membership, strong capital and conservative risk profile provide security in challenging times

Joe Garner, Chief Executive, Nationwide Building Society, said:  

"In the last month of our financial year all our lives have been overshadowed by the coronavirus. We have prioritised protecting the health and wellbeing of our colleagues from this terrible disease, supporting those members in financial difficulty, and maintaining essential services. I would like to thank our employees who have gone to extraordinary lengths to serve our members through this time.

"The pandemic has shown how dependent we all are on each other, and how important it is that we work together. Nationwide Building Society is a mutual organisation, founded on the belief that we can achieve more by acting together than we can alone. This principle is guiding our response to the pandemic, where we are doing all we can to protect people's homes and jobs.

"We are helping members in financial difficulty with payment holidays on mortgages and loans and interest-free overdraft periods, and we have promised that no mortgage member will lose their home over the next 12 months due to the impact of the coronavirus. We've taken steps to protect our employees' physical and mental health so we can maintain essential services to our members, and we've gone a step further and promised that everyone's job is safe in 2020. We are paying our suppliers early, especially smaller ones, to help them stay in business. We have also increased our support for charitable partners, like Shelter, to help protect their vital services during the pandemic. We believe that the character of any organisation comes very much to the fore in times like these, and we have been making our decisions very much with this in mind.

"While the coronavirus impacted our profitability in the last few weeks of the year, there was pressure on margins even before it hit. Notwithstanding this, we achieved a great deal during 2019/20. We have record membership and grew the number of people we helped into a home, to save and to manage their money. We achieved our longstanding aim of 10% market share in current accounts¹. We were named Which? Banking Brand of the Year in 2019 for the third year running, were ranked no. 1 for customer satisfaction among our peer group for the eighth year² and 4^th in the all-sector UK Customer Satisfaction index³. We launched a new green agenda, including a £1 billion loan fund, to help make Britain's homes greener. We also delivered £715 million in member financial benefit. In the challenging period ahead, Nationwide will focus on maintaining our financial strength, managing our business sustainably, and prioritising the needs of our members."

Chris Rhodes, Chief Financial Officer, Nationwide Building Society, said:

"Nationwide ended 2019/20 in a position of financial strength, able to support its members whilst continuing to invest for the future. We ended the year with a strong capital position with a UK leverage ratio of 4.7% (2019: 4.9%), above our target of at least 4.5%.

"Underlying profit of £469 million (2019: £788 million) reflected lower income, our technology investment, higher PPI provisions, and a £101 million financial impact from an increase in expected credit losses resulting from payment holidays and the economic outlook.

"In the medium-term the Society will focus on maintaining its strong capital and liquidity position through the economic cycle, enabling us to continue to provide competitive products and excellent service for our members."

¹ CACI (February 2020).

² © Ipsos MORI 2020, Financial Research Survey (FRS), 12 months ending 31 March 2013 to 12 months ending 31 March 2020. Each data point contains customer feedback relating to the previous 12 months. c.51,000 adults (aged 16+) surveyed across Great Britain from a total representative sample of c.60,000 adults (aged 16+) per annum. Interviews were conducted face to face and online, and weighted to reflect the overall profile of the adult population. Proportion of extremely/very satisfied customers minus proportion of extremely/very/fairly dissatisfied customers summed across main current account, mortgage and savings. Peer group defined as providers with main current account market share >4% as of April 2019 (Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Santander and TSB). Prior to April 2017, peer group defined as providers with main current account market share >6% (Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank (Lloyds TSB prior to April 2015), NatWest and Santander).

³ Institute of Customer Service UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) as at January 2020. 

Society invests in financial strength, rewarding members and our digital future

· Capital ratios remain strong, and comfortably above regulatory requirements, with UK leverage ratio of 4.7%, above our target (2019: 4.9%), and CET1 ratio of 31.9% (2019: 32.2%⁴)

· Member financial benefit of £715m from better interest rates, fees and incentives than the market average (2019: £705m)

· Underlying profit of £469m (2019: £788m) and statutory profit of £466m (2019: £833m) include an additional provision of £101m for expected credit losses resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, and reflect lower income, increased investment costs, and higher PPI charges

· Net interest income of £2,810m (2019: £2,915m) and net interest margin of 1.13% (2019: 1.22%) broadly in line with expectations

· Total costs were £2,312m (2019: £2,254m), reflecting £111m increase in investment spend and £88m of costs associated with our business banking proposition. These were partly offset by a £104m gain from the decision to close our final salary pension scheme to future accrual in March 2021

· Investment spend included impairments of £124m (2019: £115m) from implications of new technology development for existing assets

Strong product growth in 2019/20 delivers record membership

· Record membership of 16.3m, with committed members increasing to almost 3.6m⁵ (2019: 3.4m)

· Gross and net mortgage lending of £30.9bn (2019: £36.4bn) and £2.8bn (2019: £8.6bn) respectively, as we supported 1 in 6 first time buyers (2019: 1 in 5) and buy to let lending grew strongly

· Deposits grew by £5.7bn (2019: £6.0bn) helped by strong growth in current accounts and success of new savings range launched in October

· Making available £1 billion loan fund for 'green' mortgages and borrowing for green home improvements

· Opened 759,000 new current accounts (2019: 794,000), meeting our long-term target of gaining a 10% market share of all accounts⁶ (2019: 9.8%)

 

UK's most trusted financial brand⁷ delivers leading service and invests for future

· No. 1 for customer satisfaction among our peer group with a lead of 5.4%pts (2019: 4.8%pts)⁸ and UK's most trusted financial brand⁷

· Named Which? Banking Brand of the Year in 2019, for third year running

· Digital transformation continues to upgrade IT estate, increase capacity and develop future services, as transactions grew 22% during the year

Prioritising existing members' and employees' needs through challenges ahead

· Financial support package to keep members in homes and protect finances

· Commitment that no mortgage member impacted by Covid-19 will lose their home in the next 12 months

· Job security pledge for employees

⁴ The figure for 2019 has been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increases RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio. The CET1 ratio has been calculated under CRD IV on an end point basis.

⁵ Members with two or more products with the Society.

⁶ CACI (February 2020).

⁷ Nationwide Brand Guidance Study compiled by an independent research agency, based on customer and non-customer responses for the 12 months ending March 2020. Financial brands included Nationwide, Barclays, Co-operative Bank, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, TSB and Santander.

⁸ © Ipsos MORI 2020, Financial Research Survey (FRS), 12 months ending 31 March 2020 and 12 months ending 31 March 2019. c.51,000 adults (aged 16+) surveyed across Great Britain from a total representative sample of c.60,000 adults (aged 16+) per annum. Interviews were conducted face to face and online, and weighted to reflect the overall profile of the adult population. Proportion of extremely/very satisfied customers minus proportion of extremely/very/fairly dissatisfied customers summed across main current account, mortgage and savings. Peer group defined as providers with main current account market share >4% as of April 2019 (Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Santander and TSB).

 

Financial summary

	2020		2019
Financial performance	£m		£m
Total underlying income	3,046		3,170
Underlying profit before tax (note i)	469		788
Statutory profit before tax	466		833
Mortgage lending	£bn	%	£bn	%
Group residential - gross/market share	30.9	11.4	36.4	13.4
Group residential - net/market share	2.8	4.8	8.6	18.7
Average loan to value of new residential lending (by value)	72		71
Deposit balances	£bn	%	£bn	%
Member deposits balance movement/market share (note ii)	5.7	6.9	6.0	12.2
Key ratios	%		%
Underlying cost income ratio	75.9		71.1
Net interest margin	1.13		1.22

	2020		2019
Balance sheet	£bn	%	£bn	%
Total assets	248.0		238.3
Loans and advances to customers	201.0		199.1
Mortgage balances/market share	188.8	12.9	185.9	13.1
Member deposits/market share (note ii)	159.7	9.9	154.0	10.1
Asset quality	%		%
Residential mortgages
Proportion of residential mortgage accounts 3 months+ in arrears	0.41		0.43
Average indexed loan to value (by value)	58		58
Consumer banking
Proportion of customer balances with amounts past due more than 3 months (excluding charged off balances)	1.22		1.35
Key ratios	%		%
Capital
Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (note iii)	31.9		32.2
UK leverage ratio (note iv)	4.7		4.9
CRR leverage ratio (note v)	4.4		4.6
Other balance sheet ratios
Liquidity coverage ratio	163.1		150.2
Wholesale funding ratio (note vi)	28.5		28.6

Notes:

i.  Underlying profit represents managements view of underlying performance. In order to provide a more meaningful presentation of performance the following items are excluded from statutory profit to arrive at underlying profit:

a.  FSCS costs arising from institutional failures

b.  Gains from derivatives and hedge accounting.

ii.  Member deposits include current account credit balances

iii. The figure for 2019 has been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increases RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio. The CET1 ratio has been calculated under CRD IV on an end point basis.

iv. The UK leverage ratio is shown on the basis of measurement announced by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and excludes eligible central bank reserves from the leverage exposure.

v.  The Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) leverage ratio is calculated using the CRR definition of Tier 1 for the capital amount and the Delegated Act definition of the exposure measure and is reported on an end point basis.

vi. The wholesale funding ratio includes all balance sheet sources of funding (including securitisations).

 

Chief Executive's review
 

The coronavirus affected the last few weeks of a year in which we made active choices to deliver more value to members through competitive pricing and to invest for the long term. Underlying profit for the year of £469 million (2019: £788 million) reflected these choices, provisions for legacy PPI claims in the first half of the year and a £101 million additional provision for expected credit losses associated with the coronavirus.

We face into the challenging period ahead from a position of considerable strength. Since we implemented our building society, nationwide strategy three years ago, the Society has grown significantly: we have attracted 1 million new members, an additional £15 billion in retail deposits and £18 billion in mortgage balances since 4 April 2017. Last year, we met or were on target to meet the key targets for service, value and strength that we set ourselves:

· Service : We met both of our service key performance indicators (KPIs), ranking 4^th in the all-sector UK Customer Satisfaction Index⁹, and being no. 1 for customer satisfaction among our peer group¹⁰.

· Value: Members benefited from £715 million (2019: £705 million) in member financial benefit, significantly above our minimum target of £400 million a year. We also invested £9.5 million in our communities, including £5.5 million to support charitable housing projects. Committed members - those who have more than one product with us - grew to almost 3.6 million in the last year and we are on track to meet our 2022 target of 4 million.

· Strength: Our UK leverage ratio, a key measure of our financial strength, has exceeded our KPI target in each of the last three years. We have also built our Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio to 31.9%, materially higher than required.

As the full impact of the coronavirus on our members and business becomes clearer, some of the targets we set ourselves may not be achieved in the short term. In particular, exceptionally low interest rates mean it is unlikely we will meet our member financial benefit target next year. With bank base rate at 0.1%, paying savings rates significantly higher than this would not be financially sustainable, nor in the long-term interests of our members or the Society.

Building thriving membership - doing more for our members

We help our members become financially secure by helping them save, buy a home and manage their money.

We grew mortgage lending at an intentionally slower rate, with total gross lending of £31 billion (2019: £36 billion) last year. We helped 1 in 6 first time buyers into their first home (2019: 1 in 5) and grew lending to landlords strongly through our subsidiary The Mortgage Works, diversifying our income streams and supporting better savings rates for our members. We are also making a loan fund of up to £1 billion available in preferential rate mortgages and additional borrowing for green homes and home improvements.

We look after almost £1 in every £10 saved in the UK and attracted an extra £5.7 billion in deposits (2019: £6 billion), including £2.5 billion growth in current account balances. We promoted saving through a Pay Day Save Day campaign, a Start to Save account with a prize draw for regular savers, and an ISA prize draw. Members benefited from an extra £505 million in deposit interest last year compared with the market average. However, the cut in bank base rate to a historic low will impact the rates we can afford to pay on deposits in future.

We opened 759,000 (2019: 794,000) new current accounts, taking us to our long-term target of achieving a 10% share of all current accounts; our share of main current accounts rose to 8.1%¹¹ (2019: 8.0%), and we also have a very strong student and youth account share of almost 16% (2019: 14%).

We were the first provider to respond to the FCA's high cost of credit review, introducing a simple rate of interest for arranged overdraft borrowing and removing all unarranged overdraft fees.

Our personal loans and credit cards are exclusively for members; we grew personal lending to over £3.0 billion for the first time (2019: £2.4 billion) and we increased the volume of active credit card users.  

We have halted plans to launch a UK business banking service as the business case for entering this market is no longer commercially viable because of the low rate outlook and uncertain economic environment .  While it was a difficult decision to make, our priority must be to support our current members and colleagues through this crisis.

⁹ Institute of Customer Service UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) as at January 2020.

¹⁰ Lead at March 2020: 5.4%pts, March 2019: 4.8%pts. © Ipsos MORI 2020, Financial Research Survey (FRS), 12 months ending 31 March 2020 and 12 months ending 31 March 2019. c.51,000 adults (aged 16+) surveyed across Great Britain from a total representative sample of c.60,000 adults (aged 16+) per annum. Interviews were conducted face to face and online, and weighted to reflect the overall profile of the adult population. Proportion of extremely/very satisfied customers minus proportion of extremely/very/fairly dissatisfied customers summed across main current account, mortgage and savings. Peer group defined as providers with main current account market share >4% as of April 2019 (Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Santander and TSB).

¹¹ CACI (February 2020) and internal calculations. 'Main current accounts' includes main standard and packaged accounts.

Built-to-last - managing our members' money wisely

The Society's finances remain strong. Our UK leverage ratio of 4.7% (2019: 4.9%) is above regulatory requirements, as well as our KPI target of at least 4.5%. Our Common Equity Tier 1 capital of 31.9% (2019: 32.2%¹²) is materially higher than regulatory requirements.

As a member-owned mutual, we aim to make the right level of profit to maintain our financial strength and invest for the future, and we balance these longer-term priorities with delivering great value to our members through better rates and propositions. Our member financial benefit reached £715 million this year (2019: £705 million), as we chose to give as much value to our members as we could afford, exceeding our £400 million minimum target.

Our net interest income reduced by £105 million to £2,810 million (2019: £2,915 million) and our net interest margin moderated to 1.13% (2019: 1.22%). The reduction reflects both strong competition in the mortgage market during the year, and the unexpected bank base rate cuts in March in response to the coronavirus.

Our product volume performance was solid. We grew overall in mortgages, savings and current accounts - but at a more moderate pace, as we focused on broadening our relationships with our members and meeting more of their financial needs.

Our decisions to give value to members and invest in our future impacted our profits, as did the cost of legacy PPI claims. Underlying profit of £469 million (2019: £788 million) reflected these choices, the additional PPI charges, and an additional provision of £101 million for an increase in expected credit losses associated with the impact of the pandemic.

Total costs for the year increased by 3% to £2,312 million (2019: £2,254 million), as a result of a £111 million increase in investment spend and £88 million of costs associated with our business banking proposition, which were partly offset by a one-off gain of £104 million from the decision to close our final salary pension scheme to future accrual on 31 March 2021.

We continued to invest in delivering the services and platforms that members will want and need in the future. We are simplifying our technology, replacing our legacy digital estate with a simpler set of applications to create a modular, data-powered digital platform. We are strengthening our operational resilience, building greater capacity in our payments platform and preparing to move to a modern, cloud-hosted payments hub. This will enable us to deal with our higher membership and transaction volumes, while also protecting our members' money, personal information and privacy. We have continued to review the implications of new technology development for our existing assets, leading to impairments and write-offs of technology assets of £124 million (2019: £115 million).

Given the uncertain outlook, over the medium-term our focus will be on retaining sufficient profits to maintain our strong capital position through the economic cycle, and on continuing to provide competitive products and excellent service for our members.

Building legendary service - giving our members the best possible service

We are pleased to have held our own against rapidly changing expectations of service. For the third year running, in 2019 we were named Banking Brand of the Year by Which?. We have been ranked no. 1 for customer satisfaction among our peer group for the eighth year¹³. And this year we were ranked 4^th in the all-sector UK Customer Satisfaction Index¹⁴, meeting our KPI target of being in the top 5.

Our aim is to offer the best of human and digital interaction, seamlessly.

Our members still value and use our branches, but their role is evolving. Having introduced a new branch design three years ago, we have now upgraded 200 branches, nearly a third of our network. We are also testing new branch formats including a fully-staffed, tech-enabled, counter-free branch, and community 'pop-up' branches. We're committed to maintaining a strong branch network, supporting our members and communities around the country.

We have 3.3 million mobile-active members, up almost 7%, including almost half of current account members (2019: 41%), who typically use our app 26 times a month. We are continually enhancing our app, adding instant registration functionality, and auto-alerts on savings rates and overdrafts. We have achieved record satisfaction scores on Apple iOS of 4.8/5 and 4.6/5 on Android.

Building PRIDE - helping our employees achieve great things together

We have committed employees who frequently go above and beyond their jobs. This is reflected in our strong employee engagement of 77% (2019: 78%), just below the high-performing benchmark of 79%.

We're enabling our people to invest in developing their own careers, piloting a new online learning platform and career pathways to help our employees grow their skills and experience. Digital skills are at a premium in today's world and we have recruited 350 new tech specialists in 2019/20. We opened a dynamic workspace in Swindon and are due to open a new workspace in London, which will eventually bring together over 1,500 talented technology specialists.

¹² The figure for 2019 has been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increases RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio.

¹³ © Ipsos MORI 2020, Financial Research Survey (FRS), 12 months ending 31 March 2013 to 12 months ending 31 March 2020. Each data point contains customer feedback relating to the previous 12 months. c.51,000 adults (aged 16+) surveyed across Great Britain from a total representative sample of c.60,000 adults (aged 16+) per annum. Interviews were conducted face to face and online, and weighted to reflect the overall profile of the adult population. Proportion of extremely/very satisfied customers minus proportion of extremely/very/fairly dissatisfied customers summed across main current account, mortgage and savings. Peer group defined as providers with main current account market share >4% as of April 2019 (Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Santander and TSB). Prior to April 2017, peer group defined as providers with main current account market share >6% (Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank (Lloyds TSB prior to April 2015), NatWest and Santander) .

¹⁴ Institute of Customer Service UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) as at January 2020.

We want the Society to reflect the diversity of our communities, but we're not there yet, so we have launched a new inclusion and diversity agenda with new targets for 2028. Progress will be tracked by our leadership team and Board.

After consultations with our staff union and affected employees, we agreed to close our final salary pension scheme to future accrual on 31 March 2021. Employees in the scheme will retain their accumulated benefits and build up future benefits in our market-leading defined contribution scheme.

Building a national treasure - striving to serve our communities

We are the UK's most trusted financial brand¹⁵ and are committed to using our social investment, funded by a donation of 1% of pre-tax profits, to promote the mutual good of our communities. Our social investment totalled £9.5 million last year (2019: £10.6 million).

The primary focus of our social investment is housing. We awarded over £5.5 million in grants last year, to support 135 housing projects chosen by local members through our Community Boards. In Swindon, we received planning permission for the not-for-profit sustainable housing community we are developing, purchased the land, appointed contractors and broke ground.

We continued to campaign for better rental standards, helping end no-fault evictions and widening access to the rogue landlords' database. We also sponsored the campaign by Action on Empty Homes aiming to bring empty homes back into use.   We have also launched Landlord Lifeguard, a digital information platform to help landlords understand their obligations and provide better homes to renters.

 

Outlook

Today, we, like our members, and other businesses, face the new challenge of dealing with the social and economic impacts of the coronavirus.

Although we will need to adapt to a radically different environment, as a mutual Society we will continue to be guided by our social purpose, building society, nationwide. In the last 10 years we have built our capital strength significantly and we will use our financial strength to support our members through the difficult times ahead. We have put together a comprehensive support package that aims to keep people in their homes and protect their finances.

We will continue to manage our Society in our members' short- and long-term interests, which means we will focus on maintaining our capital strength, managing our business sustainably, and helping our members, as we have always done.

¹⁵ Nationwide Brand Guidance Study compiled by an independent research agency, based on customer and non-customer responses for the 12 months ending March 2020. Financial brands included Nationwide, Barclays, Co-operative Bank, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, TSB and Santander.

 

Financial review

In summary

The environment in which the Society concluded its financial year was unprecedented. Covid-19 has caused extensive worldwide economic impacts, leading to government and regulatory responses, including two UK bank base rate reductions during March 2020. Notwithstanding this, our financial performance over the course of the year has remained strong and resilient as we continue to balance the needs of our members with investing in the Society and retaining profits. The Financial Performance Framework which has guided our decisions in the past is not considered appropriate in the current environment as we instead focus our attention on maintaining our strong capital and liquidity positions through the economic cycle. Our capital position at the year end remains robust with our CET1 and UK leverage ratios at 31.9% and 4.7% respectively (2019: 32.2%16 and 4.9% respectively), comfortably in excess of regulatory requirements. We recognise that the economic and market uncertainty is likely to persist; however, we anticipate that we will continue to maintain our strong capital position above current regulatory requirements and will remain a safe place for our members' money. Underlying profit for the year ended 4 April 2020 was £469 million (2019: £788 million), with statutory profit before tax for the year at £466 million (2019: £833 million). Prior to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, we expected a reduction to our profits as a result of our commitment to our strategic investment, which includes our technology programme, combined with continued competition in the mortgage market. During March 2020, there were material impacts to our financial performance in relation to Covid-19 following the bank base rate reductions and as we enter a more uncertain economic environment. We have continued to offer good value products to our members with £715 million (2019: £705 million) of financial benefit provided to members17, predominantly through mortgage and deposit products. Despite the uncertainty in the external environment and competitive market conditions, trading performance for the year has been robust. In line with expectations, total net mortgage lending has decreased during the period to £2.8 billion (2019: £8.6 billion). Our response to the sustained market competition resulted in negative net lending in prime mortgages of £0.5 billion (2019: £7.3 billion positive net lending); however our market leading proposition and strong buy to let mortgage franchise, which saw net lending of £3.3 billion (2019: £1.3 billion), has resulted in positive net lending overall for the year. Total member deposit balances grew by £5.7 billion (2019: £6.0 billion), of which £2.5 billion (2019: £1.4 billion) is growth in current account credit balances. The growth in deposit balances reflects successful retention of balances, our competitive current account proposition and the launch of our range of new savings accounts. In light of a change to our view of the economic outlook as a result of Covid-19, we have recognised additional credit provisions of £101 million, resulting in a total charge in the year of £209 million (2019: £113 million) . Underlying performance of portfolios remained broadly stable. The conduct provisions charge of £56 million at 4 April 2020 (2019: £15 million) is predominantly due to higher than anticipated PPI claims ahead of the FCA's deadline in August 2019. Administrative expenses have increased by £58 million compared to last year. The year-on-year growth is attributable to the impact of current and previous strategic investment, along with the costs relating to the in-year development and subsequent cessation of our business banking proposition. These are in part offset by a one-off gain from the decision to close our defined benefit pension scheme to future accrual on 31 March 2021. Achieving sustainable cost savings and embedding efficiencies remains a priority for the Society. Our continued focus on efficiency has now delivered over £400 million of sustainable run rate cost saves since commencement of our efficiency programme in 2017/18, with £90 million of sustainable cost saves delivered in 2019/20. 16 The figures for 4 April 2019 have been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increased RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio. There is no change to the UK or CRR leverage ratio to 1 decimal place. 17 This represents member financial benefit. Further information is provided on page 11.		Underlying profit: £469m (2019: £788m)
		Statutory profit: £466m (2019: £833m)
		UK leverage ratio: 4.7% (2019: 4.9%)

Income statement

Underlying and statutory results
	2020	2019		Net Interest Margin: 1.13% (2019: 1.22%)
	£m	£m
Net interest income	2,810	2,915
Net other income	236	255
Total underlying income	3,046	3,170		Underlying Cost Income Ratio: 75.9% (2019: 71.1%)
Administrative expenses	(2,312)	(2,254)
Impairment losses	(209)	(113)
Provisions for liabilities and charges	(56)	(15)
Underlying profit before tax	469	788
Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) (note i)	4	9		Return on Assets 0.15% (2019: 0.27%, note iii)
(Losses)/gains from derivatives and hedge accounting (notes i, ii)	(7)	36
Statutory profit before tax	466	833
Taxation (note iii)	(101)	(197)
Profit after tax	365	636

Notes:

i.  Underlying profit represents management's view of underlying performance. The following items are excluded from statutory profit to arrive at underlying profit:

· FSCS costs and refunds arising from institutional failures, which are included within provisions for liabilities and charges.

· Gains or losses from derivatives and hedge accounting, which are presented separately within total income.

ii.  Although we only use derivatives to hedge market risks, income statement volatility can still arise due to hedge accounting ineffectiveness or because hedge accounting is either not applied or is not achievable. This volatility is largely attributable to accounting rules which do not fully reflect the economic reality of the hedging strategy.

iii. Comparatives have been restated for the change in treatment of taxation relating to distributions on Additional Tier 1 instruments as detailed in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements.

Total income and net interest margin (NIM)

Net interest income reduced by £105 million to £2,810 million (2019: £2,915 million). Part of the reduction is due to the bank base rate cuts during March in response to Covid-19. The remainder reflects an anticipated reduction in our net interest income for the financial year, given the building competitive pressure in our core mortgage market over recent years, combined with the continued decline in legacy managed rate mortgage balances.

We have mitigated the reduction in net interest income in part through a reduction of savings rates during the summer of 2019, as we sought to manage our cost of funding through closer alignment of pricing to the wider market. Despite this, during this year our depositors have earned interest at rates on average more than 50% higher than the market average. Net interest margin of 1.13% (2019: 1.22%) reflects the reduction in net interest income and growth in the balance sheet due to higher levels of liquidity and an increase in derivative balances due to weakening sterling.

Net other income has reduced by £19 million to £236 million (2019: £255 million) predominantly as a result of a reduction to the fair value of investments held.

Member financial benefit As a building society, we seek to maintain our financial strength whilst providing value to our members through pricing, propositions and service. Through our member financial benefit, we measure the additional financial value for members from the highly competitive mortgage, savings and banking products that we offer compared to the market. Member financial benefit is calculated by comparing, in aggregate, Nationwide's average interest rates and incentives across mortgages, savings, current accounts, personal loans and credit cards to the market, predominantly using market data provided by the Bank of England and CACI. The value for individual members will depend on their circumstances and product choices. We quantify member financial benefit as: Our interest rate differential + incentives and lower fees Interest rate differential We measure how our average interest rates across our member balances in total compare against the market over the period. For our two largest member segments, mortgages and retail deposits , we compare the average member interest rate for these portfolios against Bank of England and CACI industry data. A market benchmark based upon the data from CACI is used for mortgages and a Bank of England benchmark is used for retail deposits, both adjusted to exclude Nationwide balances. The differentials derived in this way are then applied to member balances for mortgages and deposits. For unsecured lending, a similar comparison is made. We calculate an interest rate differential based on available market data from the Bank of England and apply this to the total interest-bearing balances of credit cards and personal loans . Member incentives and lower fees Our member financial benefit measure also includes amounts in relation to higher incentives and lower fees that Nationwide offers to members. The calculation includes annual amounts for the following: · Mortgages: the differential on incentives for members compared to the market · 'Recommend a friend': the amount paid to existing members, when they recommend a new current account member to the Society · FlexPlus account: this current account is considered market leading against major banking competitors, with a high level of benefits for a relatively smaller fee. The difference between the monthly account fee of £13 and the market average of £17 is included in the member financial benefit measure. For the year ended 4 April 2020, this measure shows we have provided our members with a financial benefit of £715 million (2019: £705 million). This demonstrates that we have continued to offer good long-term value products to our members in both the mortgage and deposit markets, despite strong levels of competition. In the current exceptionally low interest rate environment, it is unlikely that we will be able to meet our member financial benefit target in the next financial year. With bank base rate at 0.1%, paying savings rates significantly higher than this would not be financially sustainable, nor in the long-term interest of our members or the Society. Member financial benefit is derived with reference to available market or industry level data. No adjustment is made to take account of factors such as customer mix, risk appetite and product strategy, due to both limitations in the availability of data and to avoid bias from segments in which Nationwide may be under or over-represented. On an ongoing basis we will continue to review our methodology to ensure it captures all the key elements of the financial benefits we provide to our members, where data is available.

Administrative expenses

Administrative expenses have increased by £58 million to £2,312 million (2019: £2,254 million) . The year-on-year growth is attributable to the impact of current and previous strategic investment of £111 million, along with costs relating to the in-year development and subsequent cessation of our business banking proposition, which in aggregate total £88 million (2019: £13 million). These are in part offset by the one-off gain of £104 million from the decision to close our defined benefit pension scheme to future accrual on 31 March 2021.

Our technology investment programme has continued to develop our digital services and data capabilities, together with ensuring the resilience and simplification of our technology estate. We have continued to review the implications of new technology development for our existing assets, leading to impairments and write-offs of £124 million (2019: £115 million).

Impairment losses/(reversals) on loans and advances to customers

Impairment losses/(reversals) (note i)
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Residential lending	53	(17)
Consumer banking	159	114
Retail lending	212	97
Commercial and other lending	(3)	16
Impairment losses on loans and advances	209	113

Note:

i.  Impairment losses/(reversals) represent the net amount charged/(credited) through the income statement, rather than amounts written off during the period.

Impairment losses have increased during the year to £209 million (2019: £113 million) largely due to the introduction of a £101 million additional provision to reflect the increased credit risk associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. The underlying performance of our portfolios has remained broadly stable during the year.

More information regarding the critical accounting judgements, and the forward-looking economic information used in our impairment calculations, is included in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

Provisions for liabilities and charges

We hold provisions for customer redress to cover the costs of remediation and redress in relation to past sales of financial products and ongoing administration, including non-compliance with consumer credit legislation and other regulatory requirements. In line with experience across the industry, the Society received a higher than anticipated volume of PPI complaints and enquiries in the period immediately before the PPI deadline of 29 August 2019. Our customer redress charge has increased to £56 million (2019: £15 million charge) primarily as a result of an additional £39 million charge relating to PPI, which includes costs to process a large number of enquiries received where no PPI had been held. The remainder of the charge relates to remediation costs for other redress issues, including issues relating to the administration of customer accounts. More information is included in note 12 of the consolidated financial statements.

Taxation

The tax charge for the year of £101 million (2019: £197 million¹⁸) represents an effective tax rate of 21.7% (2019: 23.7%¹⁸) which is higher than the statutory UK corporation tax rate of 19% (2019: 19%). The effective tax rate is higher due to the 8% banking surcharge of £24 million (2019: £32 million¹⁸), and the tax effect of disallowable bank levy and customer redress costs of £11 million and £4 million (2019: £8 million and £8 million) respectively. This is partially offset by the tax credit on the distribution to the holders of Additional Tier 1 capital instruments of £9 million (2019: £13 million) and the tax impact of deferred tax provided at different rates of £17 million (2019: charge of £3 million). Further information is provided in note 9 to the consolidated financial statements.

¹⁸ Comparative figures have been restated. Further details are included in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements.  
 

Balance sheet

Total assets have increased by 4% to reach £248.0 billion at 4 April 2020 (2019: £238.3 billion). Following our robust trading performance, residential mortgage balances increased by £2.8 billion, with the remainder of the balance sheet growth predominantly due to higher holdings of cash and liquid assets, and an increase in the value of derivatives due to a weakening of sterling and the fall in interest rates.

Member deposit balance growth has been robust with balances increasing by £5.7 billion to £159.7 billion (2019: £154.0 billion) . Balance growth has been supported by the launch of a new savings range in October 2019 . This is combined with strong growth in current account credit balances which accounts for £2.5 billion of the growth. In combination, these have enabled us to maintain our market share of deposits at 9.9% (2019: 10.1%), with our market share of main current accounts broadly stable at 8.1%¹⁹ (2019: 8.0%).

Assets						Liquidity Coverage Ratio: 163.1% (2019: 150.2%)
	2020		2019
	£m	%	£m	%
Residential mortgages (note i)	188,839	94	186,012	93
Commercial and other lending	7,931	4	9,118	5
Consumer banking	4,994	2	4,586	2
	201,764	100	199,716	100
Impairment provisions	(786)		(665)
Loans and advances to customers	200,978		199,051
Other financial assets	43,933		36,709
Other non-financial assets	3,130		2,541
Total assets	248,041		238,301
Asset quality	%		%
Residential mortgages (note i):
Proportion of residential mortgage accounts more than 3 months in arrears	0.41		0.43
Average indexed loan to value (by value)	58		58
Consumer banking:
Proportion of customer balances with amounts past due more than 3 months (excluding charged off balances)	1.22		1.35

Note:

i.  Residential mortgages include prime and specialist loans, with the specialist portfolio primarily comprising buy to let lending.

Residential mortgages

Total gross mortgage lending in the year was £30.9 billion (2019: £36.4 billion), representing a market share of 11.4% (2019: 13.4%). Despite the sustained competition in the UK mortgage market, we have maintained broadly stable prime mortgage balances at £151.1 billion (2019: £151.5 billion). Our specialist mortgage lending (being predominantly buy to let) performed strongly with our second highest ever net lending of £3.3 billion (2019: £1.3 billion); our balances grew to £37.7 billion (2019: £34.5 billion) as a result of strong performance in our core product range, supported by enhancements to our proposition, including lending to limited companies and portfolio landlords.

Arrears performance has remained stable during the year, with cases more than three months in arrears at 0.41% of the total portfolio (2019: 0.43%). Impairment provisions have increased to £252 million (2019: £206 million), which includes an additional provision of £51 million in relation to Covid-19.

¹⁹ Source CACI (Feb 2020) and internal calculations. 'Main current accounts' refers to main standard and packaged accounts.
 

Commercial and other lending

During the year, commercial and other lending balances have decreased to £7.9 billion (2019: £9.1 billion). Continuing the deleveraging activity in previous financial years, the overall portfolio is increasingly weighted towards registered social landlords, with balances of £5.4 billion (2019: £6.0 billion), and project finance with balances of £0.7 billion (2019: £0.8 billion). With a smaller book, and fewer active borrowers requiring further lending, our commercial real estate balances decreased during the year to £1.0 billion (2019: £1.4 billion).

Impairment provisions have decreased to £40 million (2019: £41 million) with a reduction in the credit risk associated with one commercial loan being offset by the introduction of a £7 million additional provision to reflect the potential impact of Covid-19.

Consumer banking

Consumer banking balances have increased to £5.0 billion (2019: £4.6 billion). Consumer banking largely comprises personal loans of £3.0 billion (2019: £2.4 billion) and credit cards of £1.6 billion (2019: £1.8 billion). Personal loan balances have grown following the extension of our lowest ever headline rate for loans up to a value of £25,000 .

Provisions have increased to £494 million (2019: £418 million) due to book growth and an additional provision of £43 million for the estimated impact of Covid-19, with underlying performance remaining broadly stable.

Other financial assets

Other financial assets total £43.9 billion (2019: £36.7 billion) and comprise liquidity and investment assets held by our Treasury function amounting to £37.4 billion (2019: £32.7 billion), derivatives with positive fair values of £4.8 billion (2019: £3.6 billion) and fair value adjustments and other assets of £1.8 billion (2019: £0.4 billion). The £4.7 billion increase in cash and liquid assets holdings is driven primarily by inflows from increases in retail deposits during the year. Derivatives largely comprise interest rate and foreign exchange contracts which economically hedge financial risks inherent in core lending and funding activities.

Nationwide's average Liquidity Coverage Ratio over the 12 months ending 4 April 2020 increased to 152% (2019: 143%). Nationwide continues to manage its liquidity against internal risk appetite, which is more prudent than regulatory requirements. Further details are included in the Liquidity and funding risk section of the Risk report.

Members' interests, equity and liabilities				Wholesale funding ratio: 28.5% (2019: 28.6%)
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Member deposits	159,691	153,969
Debt securities in issue	35,963	35,942
Other financial liabilities	37,817	33,755
Other liabilities	1,608	1,466
Total liabilities	235,079	225,132
Members' interests and equity	12,962	13,169
Total members' interests, equity and liabilities	248,041	238,301

Member deposits

Member deposit balance growth of £5.7 billion (2019: £6.0 billion) represents £3.2 billion of retail savings growth and £2.5 billion of growth in current account credit balances. This has been achieved despite the continuing competitive environment by launching our new savings product range in October 2019 and offering a competitive current account proposition. We have maintained our retail deposits stock market share of 9.9% (2019: 10.1%) with our market share of main current accounts broadly stable at 8.1% (2019: 8.0%), and have achieved our long-term target of a 10% share of all current accounts.

 

Debt securities in issue and other financial liabilities

Debt securities in issue primarily comprise wholesale funding but specifically exclude subordinated debt, which is included within other financial liabilities; balances have remained broadly stable at £36.0 billion (2019: £35.9 billion). Nationwide's wholesale funding ratio has also remained broadly unchanged at 28.5% (2019: 28.6%); this ratio remains well below the statutory maximum limit of 50%. Other financial liabilities have increased to £37.8 billion (2019: £33.8 billion) primarily due to issuances of subordinated debt during the period in order to meet the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), combined with increases in swap collateral. Further details are included in the Liquidity and funding risk section of the Risk report.

Members' interests and equity

Members' interests and equity have decreased to £13.0 billion (2019: £13.2 billion) largely as a result of the redemption of £1.0 billion of Additional Tier 1 capital in June 2019, partially offset by the issuance of £0.6 billion Additional Tier 1 capital in September 2019.

Statement of comprehensive income

Statement of comprehensive income (note i)
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Profit after tax (note ii)	365	636
Net remeasurement of pension obligations	119	153
Net movement in cash flow hedge reserve	(14)	328
Net movement in other hedging reserve (note iii)	(42)
Net movement in fair value through other comprehensive income reserve	(67)	(12)
Net movement in revaluation reserve	(11)	(1)
Total comprehensive income	350	1,104

Notes:

i.  Movements are shown net of related taxation.

ii.  Comparatives have been restated as detailed in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements.

iii.  A new reserve has been created as a result of adopting IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' - Hedge Accounting, effective from 5 April 2019 as detailed in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements.

Further information on movements in the pension obligation is included in note 14 to the consolidated financial statements.

 

Capital structure

Our capital position remains strong, with both the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio and UK leverage ratio comfortably above regulatory capital requirements of 12.3% and 3.6% respectively. The CET1 ratio has decreased marginally to 31.9% (2019: 32.2%²⁰) while the UK leverage ratio reduced to 4.7% (2019: 4.9%²⁰).

Capital structure (note i)
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Capital resources
Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital	10,665	10,517
Total Tier 1 capital	11,258	11,509
Total regulatory capital	14,578	14,485
Risk weighted assets (RWAs) (note ii)	33,399	32,682
UK leverage exposure (note ii)	240,707	235,317
CRR leverage exposure (note ii)	254,388	247,757
CRD IV capital ratios:	%	%
CET1 ratio (note ii)	31.9	32.2
UK leverage ratio (note iii)	4.7	4.9
CRR leverage ratio (note iv)	4.4	4.6

Notes:

i.  Data in the table is reported under CRD IV on an end point basis with IFRS 9 transitional arrangements applied.

ii.  The figures for 4 April 2019 have been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increased RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio. There is no change to the UK or CRR leverage ratio to 1 decimal place.

iii.  The UK leverage ratio (as defined in the PRA rulebook) is calculated using the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) definition of Tier 1 for the capital amount and the Delegated Act definition of the exposure measure, excluding eligible central bank reserves.

iv.  The CRR leverage ratio is calculated using the CRR definition of Tier 1 for the capital amount and the Delegated Act definition of the exposure measure and is reported on an end point basis.

The CET1 ratio reduced to 31.9% (2019: 32.2%²⁰) primarily as a result of a £0.7 billion increase in risk weighted assets (RWAs). This was driven primarily by the application of the Simple, Transparent, and Standardised (STS) securitisation framework per Regulation (EU) 2017/2402, which from 1 January 2020 was applicable to all securitisation positions. Securitisations that are yet to comply with the STS criteria, generally those issued prior to the introduction of the framework, now incur a higher risk weight. In addition, there was an increase in the balance sheet value of fixed assets following the change to accounting for leases on adoption of IFRS 16. CET1 capital resources increased by £0.1 billion, due to profit after tax for the financial year of £0.4 billion, partially offset by distributions.

Although the future impact of Covid-19 is not yet clear, it is likely to lead to some RWA inflation and therefore a lower CET1 ratio in the short to medium term. Nationwide is undertaking planning activities which reflect a range of potential outcomes. However, the current capital position and the published stress testing results show that Nationwide is well capitalised and positioned to meet such periods of financial stress. Nationwide expects to maintain a surplus above the Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD IV) combined buffer requirements and the threshold at which a maximum distributable amount (MDA) would be imposed.

²⁰ The figures for 4 April 2019 have been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increased RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio. There is no change to the UK or CRR leverage ratio to 1 decimal place.

The UK leverage ratio reduced to 4.7% (2019: 4.9%²¹) with Tier 1 capital reducing by £0.3 billion, as a result of the net redemption of £0.4 billion of AT1 capital instruments. This was in conjunction with an increase in UK leverage exposure of £5.4 billion primarily as a result of net retail lending and treasury investments over the year. The CRR leverage ratio is based on the Delegated Act definition and therefore exposures include central bank reserves. This also reduced by 0.2%, closing at 4.4% (2019: 4.6%²¹).

During March 2020 the Bank of England made announcements on the measures it was taking in response to the outbreak of Covid-19. These included a delay in the expected implementation date for new residential mortgage IRB models until 2022, which incorporate the changes required by the PS13/17 Policy Statement. These changes are anticipated to increase RWAs, leading to an estimated reduction in the CET1 ratio of approximately one third, based on the current capital position. It is expected that the CET1 ratio will be impacted further by the finalised Basel III reforms which come into effect progressively between 2023 and 2028. The impact of the full implementation of this legislation will supersede the effect of the new IRB models, with an expected reduction in the reported CET1 ratio of approximately a half relative to the current capital position.

Since 4 April 2020, the European Commission has announced amendments to the treatment of IFRS 9 transitional capital relief. This is intended to provide relief for an increase in provisions as a result of the economic impacts of Covid-19. This is expected to be implemented by 30 June 2020 and as such any impacts of this change will be captured within future capital disclosures.

Further details of the capital position and regulatory developments are included in the Solvency risk section of the Risk report.

²¹ The figures for 4 April 2019 have been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increased RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio. There is no change to the UK or CRR leverage ratio to 1 decimal place.

Risk report

Contents 

	Page
Introduction	19
Top and emerging risks	19
Principal risks and uncertainties	20
Credit risk:
Overview	21
Residential mortgages	26
Consumer banking	42
Commercial and other lending	51
Treasury assets	58
Liquidity and funding risk	63
Solvency risk	73

Introduction

Risk management is at the heart of our business and has an important part to play in delivering our shared purpose of building society, nationwide by making sure we are safe and secure for the future. Whilst it is accepted that all business activities involve some degree of risk, Nationwide seeks to protect its members by appropriately managing the risks that arise from its activities. Nationwide's risk management processes ensure it is built to last by:

• identifying risks through a robust assessment of principal risks and uncertainties facing the Society, including those that would threaten its business model, future performance, solvency or liquidity

• robust decision making, ensuring we take the right risks, in a way that is considered and supports the strategy

• ensuring the risks we do take are understood, controlled and managed appropriately

• maintaining an appropriate balance between delivering member value and remaining a prudent and responsible lender.

Top and emerging risks

The Board continually monitors the most significant risks to the Society. Whilst these risks remain similar to those identified last year, they have been significantly impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, which has materially impacted the Society's risk profile. Nationwide was quick to invoke the highest level of risk management response to minimise the impact on our risk profile, while continuing to provide key services and ensuring the safety both of colleagues and customers.

Nationwide's strategic responses to its top and emerging risks are described below, together with updates on specific external and internal risks. More information on our response to these risks is shown in the Risk report, or elsewhere in the Strategic report as referenced.

Geopolitical and macro-economic environment - Nationwide is naturally exposed to any downturn in the UK's economic conditions and to the UK housing market in particular. The Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted both the UK and global economy. Our strategic response: · We maintain strong capital and liquidity surpluses over regulatory minima with a CET1 ratio of 31.9%, UK leverage ratio of 4.7% and liquidity coverage ratio of 163.1%. · We undertake robust internal and regulatory stress tests, including the Bank of England stress test in which we maintained capital ratios in excess of regulatory requirements. · We continue to proactively respond to circumstances relating to Covid-19 as they develop.
Resilience - The way our members use our services is changing, driven by changes in technology in the longer term and by the operational challenges posed by Covid-19 in the short term. This has increased the demand on our systems, processes and staff to maintain critical member facing services. Our strategic response: · We continuously develop controls across new and existing processes and technologies to protect our systems and customer data. · We are investing in our technology and infrastructure to improve services and minimise the risk of disruption to members.
Competition - The competitive environment remains intense as ring-fenced banks with cheaper funding and excess liquidity have continued to focus on our core markets and new market entrants, seeking to exploit new technologies, look to grow market share. Our strategic response: · We are diversifying our product range in response to specific customer needs, including initiatives such as later life lending. · We are leveraging our branch presence; having introduced a new branch design three years ago, we have now upgraded 200 branches, nearly a third of our network. This year we are also testing new branch formats in Lichfield and Sheffield.
External Risks	Change
Pandemics - The Covid-19 outbreak is having far-reaching impacts on the economy, impacting our financial performance, credit profile and the way we interact with customers and our business operations.	New
Climate change - The physical and transition risks of climate change are becoming ever more apparent and have the potential to pose a significant threat to Nationwide without a co-ordinated and timely response.	ì
Regulatory change - The regulatory environment continues to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak with regulators focused on maintaining confidence in UK financial services and ensuring that markets operate fairly for customers.	ì
Libor transition - Nationwide is exposed to a range of Libor linked assets, liabilities and derivatives which will be impacted by the phasing out of Libor in 2021.	è
Cyber - The sophistication of cyber-attacks continues to increase, at the same time as Nationwide and our members embrace new technologies, potentially leading to new or increased vulnerabilities to external threats.	è
Brexit - Whilst the UK has now left the European Union, uncertainty remains until the details of the relationship between the UK and the EU are finalised.	è

Internal Risks	Change
Data - As increasing volumes of customer data are utilised to improve experience and deliver intuitive digital services, the safeguarding of customer data is becoming increasingly critical.	è
Transformation - The Society's technology change agenda increases the risk of service disruption or cost increases in the short term.	è

Key (level of risk to Nationwide)

ì   Increasing level of risk   è   Stable level of risk  î   Decreasing level of risk

Principal risks and uncertainties

The principal risks set out below are the key risks relevant to Nationwide's business model and achievement of its strategic objectives. These principal risks are further broken down into lower level categories to support day to day management. The principal risk categories remain largely unchanged from last year (with one amalgamation noted below) and are managed through the Society's Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

The Board continually monitors the most significant risks to the Society. The Covid-19 outbreak has materially impacted the Society's risk profile and may accelerate the realisation or increase the severity of risks across a number of risk categories.

Principal Risk	Definition	Risk Committee
Credit risk	The risk of loss as a result of a member, customer or counterparty failing to meet their financial obligations.	Credit Committee
Liquidity and funding risk	Liquidity risk is the risk that Nationwide is unable to meet its liabilities as they fall due and maintain member and other stakeholder confidence. Funding risk is the risk that Nationwide is unable to maintain diverse funding sources in wholesale and retail markets and manage excessive concentration of funding types.	Assets and Liabilities Committee
Solvency risk	The risk that Nationwide fails to maintain sufficient capital to absorb losses throughout a full economic cycle and to maintain the confidence of current and prospective members, investors, the Board and regulators.	Assets and Liabilities Committee
Market risk	The risk that the net value of, or net income arising from, the Society's assets and liabilities is impacted as a result of market price or rate changes. As Nationwide does not have a trading book, market risk only arises in the banking book.	Assets and Liabilities Committee
Pension risk	The risk that the value of the pension schemes' assets will be insufficient to meet the estimated liabilities, creating a pension deficit.	Assets and Liabilities Committee
Business risk	The risk that volumes decline or margins shrink relative to the cost base, affecting the sustainability of the business and the ability to deliver the strategy due to macro-economic, geopolitical, industry, regulatory or other external events.	Executive Risk Committee
Model risk	The risk of an adverse outcome (incorrect or unintended decision or financial loss) that occurs as a direct result of weaknesses or failures in the development, implementation or use of a model. The adverse consequences include financial loss, poor business or strategic decision making, or damage to Nationwide's reputation.	Model Risk Oversight Committee
Operational and conduct risk (note i)	The risk of Society impact(s) resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, conduct and compliance management, people and systems, or from external events.	Operational Risk Committee and Conduct and Compliance Committee

Note:

i.  In 2020, two principal risks, "Operational" and "Conduct & compliance" merged into a new "Operational & conduct" principal risk category.

Information on key developments and updated quantitative disclosures for credit risk, liquidity and funding risk, and solvency risk are included within this Risk report.
 

Credit risk - Overview

Credit risk is the risk of loss as a result of a member, customer or counterparty failing to meet their financial obligations. Credit risk encompasses:

· borrower/counterparty risk - the risk of loss arising from a borrower or counterparty failing to pay, or becoming increasingly likely not to pay the interest or principal on a loan, or on a financial product, or for a service, on time;

· security/collateral risk - the risk of loss arising from deteriorating security/collateral quality;

· concentration risk - the risk of loss arising from insufficient diversification;

· refinance risk - the risk of loss arising when a repayment of a loan or other financial product occurs later than originally anticipated.

Nationwide manages credit risk for the following portfolios:

Portfolio	Definition
Residential mortgages	Loans secured on residential property
Consumer banking	Unsecured lending comprising current account overdrafts, personal loans and credit cards
Commercial and other lending	Loans to registered social landlords, loans made under the Private Finance Initiative, commercial real estate lending and other balances due from counterparties not covered by other categories
Treasury	Treasury liquidity, derivatives and discretionary investment portfolios

Forbearance

Forbearance occurs when concessions are made to the contractual terms of a loan when the customer is facing or about to face difficulties in meeting their financial commitments. A concession is where the customer receives assistance, which could be a modification to the previous terms and conditions of a facility or a total or partial refinancing of debt, either mid-term or at maturity. Requests for concessions are principally attributable to:

· temporary cash flow problems;

· breaches of financial covenants; or

· an inability to repay at contractual maturity.

In addition, we are supporting borrowers financially affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with payment holidays and other concessions.

Consistent with the European Banking Authority reporting definitions, loans that meet the regulatory forbearance exit criteria are not reported as forborne. The concession events used to classify balances subject to forbearance for residential mortgages, consumer banking and commercial lending are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Impairment provision

Impairment provisions on financial assets are calculated on an expected credit loss (ECL) basis for assets held at amortised cost and at fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI). ECL impairment provisions are based on an assessment of the probability of default (PD), exposure at default (EAD) and loss given default (LGD), discounted to give a net present value.

I mpairment provisions are calculated using a three stage approach depending on changes in credit risk since original recognition of the assets:

· an asset which is not credit impaired on initial recognition and has not subsequently experienced a significant increase in credit risk is categorised as being within stage 1, with a provision equal to a 12 month ECL (losses arising on default events expected to occur within 12 months);

· where a loan's credit risk increases significantly, it is moved to stage 2. The provision recognised is equal to the lifetime ECL (losses on default events expected to occur at any point during the life of the asset);

· if a loan meets the definition of credit impaired, it is moved to stage 3 with a provision equal to its lifetime ECL.

For loans and advances held at amortised cost, the stage distribution and the provision coverage ratios are shown in this report for each individual portfolio. The provision coverage ratio is calculated by dividing the provisions by the gross balances for each main lending portfolio. Loans remain on the balance sheet, net of associated provisions, until they are deemed no longer recoverable, when such loans are written off.

Governance and oversight of impairment provisions

The models used in the calculation of impairment provisions are governed in accordance with the Society's Model Risk Framework. PD, EAD and LGD models are subject to regular monitoring and back testing and are independently reviewed annually. Where necessary, post model adjustments ('PMAs') are approved for risks not captured in model outputs, for example where insufficient historic data exists. The economic scenarios used in the calculation of impairment provisions and associated probability weightings are proposed by our Chief Economist. Details of these economic assumptions and material PMAs are included in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

A monthly provision meeting including the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Risk Officer oversees these and all other aspects of impairment provisioning to ensure that impairment provisions are appropriate. Impairment provisions are regularly reported to the Audit Committee, which reviews and challenges the key judgements and estimates made by management.

Performance overview

Overall credit performance for the year has remained strong, with mortgage and unsecured arrears at a low level and broadly stable. Towards the end of the financial year it became clear that Covid-19 would have a significant impact on the UK economy. The UK is likely to experience a significant contraction in economic activity during 2020 as a result of the pandemic and associated government intervention to reduce the spread of the virus. In response to this crisis, the Bank of England has taken significant measures, including a reduction in bank base rate to 0.1%, and regulators have issued guidance to lenders asking them to act in the best interests of their customers to ease the financial impact on them.

The Society is working with Government and the wider industry in response to the threat posed by Covid-19. We recognise that the pandemic is having a significant impact on our members , and we are offering them help and support in these challenging times. This includes offering payment holidays to impacted borrowers. In accordance with regulatory guidance, these payment concessions are not recorded as forbearance and do not automatically have an impact on the reported staging of balances.

An additional provision for credit losses has been recognised in the consolidated financial statements to reflect the estimated impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on expected credit losses. Revised economic forecasts have been used to model losses in the residential mortgage, consumer banking and commercial portfolios. This provision also takes account of the credit risk associated with support measures provided to borrowers, recognising that in some cases borrowers will experience longer term financial difficulty as a result of the pandemic. The total additional provision is as follows:

Additional provisions
2020	£m
Residential mortgages	51
Consumer banking	43
Commercial lending	7
Total	101

Further details regarding the concession measures being offered and the impact for residential mortgages, consumer banking and commercial lending are described in the relevant sections of this repor t.

Maximum exposure to credit risk

Nationwide's maximum exposure to credit risk has increased to £256 billion (2019: £249 billion), principally reflecting higher holdings of liquid assets combined with an increase in residential mortgage lending.

Credit risk largely arises from exposure to loans and advances to customers, which account for 83% (2019: 85%) of Nationwide's total credit risk exposure. Within this, the exposure relates primarily to residential mortgages, which account for 94% (2019: 93%) of total loans and advances to customers and comprise high quality assets with low occurrences of arrears and possessions.

In addition to loans and advances to customers, Nationwide is exposed to credit risk on all other financial assets. For all financial assets recognised on the balance sheet, the maximum exposure to credit risk represents the balance sheet carrying value after allowance for impairment, plus off-balance sheet commitments. For off-balance sheet commitments, the maximum exposure is the maximum amount that Nationwide would have to pay if the commitments were to be called upon. For loan commitments and other credit related commitments that are irrevocable over the life of the respective facilities, the maximum exposure is the full amount of the committed facilities.

Maximum exposure to credit risk
2020	Gross balances	Impairment provisions	Carrying value	Commitments (note i)	Maximum credit risk exposure	% of total credit risk exposure
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Amortised cost loans and advances to customers:
Residential mortgages	188,768	(252)	188,516	10,734	199,250	78
Consumer banking	4,994	(494)	4,500	40	4,540	2
Commercial and other lending	7,133	(40)	7,093	642	7,735	3
Fair value adjustment for micro hedged risk (note ii)	741	-	741	-	741	-
	201,636	(786)	200,850	11,416	212,266	83
FVTPL loans and advances to customers:
Residential mortgages (note iii)	71	-	71	-	71	-
Commercial and other lending	57	-	57	-	57	-
	128	-	128	-	128	-
Other items:
Cash	13,748	-	13,748	-	13,748	5
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	3,636	-	3,636	-	3,636	1
Investment securities - FVOCI	18,367	-	18,367	-	18,367	7
Investment securities - Amortised cost	1,625	-	1,625	-	1,625	1
Investment securities - FVTPL	12	-	12	-	12	-
Derivative financial instruments	4,771	-	4,771	-	4,771	2
Fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk (note ii)	1,774	-	1,774	-	1,774	1
	43,933	-	43,933	-	43,933	17
Total	245,697	(786)	244,911	11,416	256,327	100

Maximum exposure to credit risk
2019	Gross  balances	Impairment provisions	Carrying  value	Commitments (note i)	Maximum credit risk exposure	% of total credit risk exposure
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Amortised cost loans and advances to customers:
Residential mortgages	185,940	(206)	185,734	12,051	197,785	79
Consumer banking	4,586	(418)	4,168	33	4,201	2
Commercial and other lending	8,178	(41)	8,137	872	9,009	4
Fair value adjustment for micro hedged risk (note ii)	883	-	883	-	883	-
	199,587	(665)	198,922	12,956	211,878	85
FVTPL loans and advances to customers:
Residential mortgages (note iii)	72	-	72	-	72	-
Commercial and other lending	57	-	57	-	57	-
	129	-	129	-	129	-
Other items:
Cash	12,493	-	12,493	-	12,493	5
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	4,009	-	4,009	-	4,009	2
Investment securities - FVOCI	14,500	-	14,500	-	14,500	6
Investment securities - Amortised cost	1,656	-	1,656	-	1,656	1
Investment securities - FVTPL	78	-	78	-	78	-
Derivative financial instruments	3,562	-	3,562	-	3,562	1
Fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk (note ii)	411	-	411	-	411	-
	36,709	-	36,709	-	36,709	15
Total	236,425	(665)	235,760	12,956	248,716	100

Notes:

i.  In addition to the amounts shown above, Nationwide has revocable commitments of £10,139 million (2019: £9,475 million) in respect of credit card and overdraft facilities. These commitments represent agreements to lend in the future, subject to certain considerations. Such commitments are cancellable by Nationwide, subject to notice requirements, and given their nature are not expected to be drawn down to the full level of exposure.

ii.  The fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk and the fair value adjustment for micro hedged risk (which relates to the commercial lending portfolio) represent hedge accounting adjustments. They are indirectly exposed to credit risk through the relationship with the underlying loans covered by Nationwide's hedging programmes.

iii. FVTPL residential mortgages include equity release and shared equity loans.

Commitments

Irrevocable undrawn commitments to lend are within the scope of provision requirements. The commitments in the table above consist of overpayment reserves and separately identifiable irrevocable commitments for the pipeline of residential mortgages, personal loans, commercial loans and investment securities. These commitments are not recognised on the balance sheet, and the total associated provision of £0.4 million (2019: £0.4 million) is included within provisions for liabilities and charges.

Revocable commitments relating to overdrafts and credit cards are included in ECL provisions, with the allowance for future drawdowns made as part of the exposure at default element of the ECL calculation.

 

Credit risk - Residential mortgages

Summary

Nationwide's residential mortgages comprise both prime and specialist loans. Prime residential mortgages are mainly Nationwide-branded advances made through the branch network and intermediary channels. Specialist lending consists principally of buy to let (BTL) mortgages originated under The Mortgage Works (UK) plc (TMW) brand, together with smaller legacy portfolios in run-off. Over the year, as we continued to grow our lending in line with established credit criteria, the credit performance of our residential mortgages has remained stable and credit quality continues to be strong.

Residential mortgage gross balances
	2020		2019
	£m	%	£m	%
Prime	151,069	80	151,445	82
Specialist:
Buy to let (note i)	35,539	19	32,012	17
Other (note ii)	2,160	1	2,483	1
	37,699	20	34,495	18
Amortised cost loans and advances to customers	188,768	100	185,940	100
FVTPL loans and advances to customers	71		72
Total residential mortgages	188,839		186,012

Notes:

i.  Buy to let mortgages originated under the TMW brand are £34,031 million (2019: £30,305 million).

ii.  Other includes self-certified, near prime and sub-prime lending, all of which were discontinued in 2009.

Total balances across the residential mortgage portfolios have grown by 2% during the year to £189 billion (2019: £186 billion), which relates solely to the specialist portfolio, as we continue to support the buy to let sector.

 

Impairment losses for the year

Impairment losses/(reversals) for the year
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Prime	13	(1)
Specialist	40	(16)
Total	53	(17)
	%	%
Impairment charge as a % of average gross balance	0.03	(0.01)

Due to the high quality of residential mortgage portfolios and continued low levels of arrears, impairment losses remain low. The impairment losses for the year include an additional provision of £51 million, which has been included to reflect the expected impact of Covid-19. The level of this provision reflects the estimated impact on expected credit losses based upon a revised central economic scenario and the credit risk associated with payment holidays granted in response to Covid-19.

The following table shows residential mortgage lending balances carried at amortised cost, the stage allocation of the loans, impairment provisions and the resulting provision coverage ratios:

Residential mortgages staging analysis
2020	Stage 1	Stage 2  total	Stage 2 Up to date (note i)	Stage 2 1 - 30 DPD (note i)	Stage 2 >30 DPD (note i)	Stage 3	POCI (note ii)	Covid-19 additional provision (note iii)	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Gross balances
Prime	148,355	1,953	998	698	257	761	-	-	151,069
Specialist	29,399	7,642	7,115	270	257	503	155	-	37,699
Total	177,754	9,595	8,113	968	514	1,264	155	-	188,768
Provisions
Prime	27	8	2	3	3	10	-	11	56
Specialist	13	117	87	11	19	27	(1)	40	196
Total	40	125	89	14	22	37	(1)	51	252
Provisions as a % of total balance	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Prime	0.02	0.41	0.22	0.46	1.02	1.30	-	-	0.04
Specialist	0.05	1.53	1.23	3.93	7.22	5.33	-	-	0.52
Total	0.02	1.30	1.11	1.42	4.12	2.90	-	-	0.13

 

Residential mortgages staging analysis
2019	Stage 1	Stage 2  total	Stage 2 Up to date (note i)	Stage 2 1 - 30 DPD (note i)	Stage 2 >30 DPD  (note i)	Stage 3	POCI (note ii)	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Gross balances
Prime	148,639	2,048	1,086	695	267	758	-	151,445
Specialist	27,384	6,431	5,947	271	213	513	167	34,495
Total	176,023	8,479	7,033	966	480	1,271	167	185,940
Provisions
Prime	22	12	5	4	3	10	-	44
Specialist	15	115	91	10	14	32	-	162
Total	37	127	96	14	17	42	-	206
Provisions as a % of total balance	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Prime	0.01	0.57	0.38	0.62	1.19	1.38	-	0.03
Specialist	0.06	1.80	1.53	3.83	6.78	6.15	-	0.47
Total	0.02	1.50	1.35	1.52	3.65	3.31	-	0.11

Notes:

i.  Days past due (DPD) is a measure of arrears status.

ii.  POCI loans are those which were credit-impaired on purchase or acquisition. The POCI loans shown in the table above were recognised on the balance sheet when the Derbyshire Building Society was acquired in December 2008. These balances, which are mainly interest-only, were 90 days or more in arrears when they were acquired and so have been classified as credit-impaired on acquisition. The gross balance for POCI is shown net of the lifetime ECL of £6 million (2019: £6 million).

iii. In recognition of the financial impact that Covid-19 may have on our borrowers, an additional provision of £51 million has been added to the impairment provisions for residential mortgages. This additional provision has not been allocated to underlying loans and therefore has not been attributed to stages. Further detail on the calculation of this additional provision is given in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

At 4 April 2020, 94% (2019: 95%) of the residential mortgage portfolio is in stage 1, reflecting the portfolio's underlying strong credit quality. During the year there has been an increase in stage 2 balances to £9,595 million (2019: £8,479 million). The increase is within the specialist portfolio, and is due to refinance risk associated with interest only loans, together with an increase in lifetime probability of default (PD) compared to the PD at origination, resulting partially from changes in the macroeconomic assumptions used. The stage 2 provision as a percentage of stage 2 balances has reduced as the average quality of loans in the portfolio continues to improve, partly through maturity of older higher risk loans.

Stage 3 loans in the residential mortgage portfolio equate to 1% (2019: 1%) of the total residential mortgage exposure. Of the total £1,264 million (2019: £1,271 million) stage 3 loans, £679 million (2019: £705 million) is in respect of loans with amounts which are more than 90 days past due, with the remainder being impaired due to other indicators of unlikeness to pay such as forbearance or the bankruptcy of the borrower. For loans subject to forbearance, accounts are transferred back to stage 1 or 2 only after being up to date and meeting contractual obligations for a period of 12 months; £244 million (2019: £226 million) of the stage 3 balances in forbearance are in this probation period.

 

The table below summarises the movements in the Group's residential mortgages held at amortised cost, including the impact of ECL impairment provisions. The movements within the table are an aggregation of monthly movements over the year.

Reconciliation of movements in gross residential mortgage balances and impairment provisions
	Non-credit impaired				Credit impaired (note i)
	Subject to-12 month ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Total
	Stage 1		Stage 2		Stage 3 and POCI
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 5 April 2019	176,023	37	8,479	127	1,438	42	185,940	206
Stage transfers:
Transfers from Stage 1 to Stage 2	(15,257)	(15)	15,257	15	-	-	-	-
Transfers to Stage 3	(315)	-	(779)	(31)	1,094	31	-	-
Transfers from Stage 2 to Stage 1	12,923	66	(12,923)	(66)	-	-	-	-
Transfers from Stage 3	199	1	539	13	(738)	(14)	-	-
Net remeasurement of ECL arising from transfer of stage		(52)		72		(12)		8
Net movement arising from transfer of stage	(2,450)	-	2,094	3	356	5	-	8
New assets originated or purchased	30,501	5	-	-	-	-	30,501	5
Further lending/(repayments)	(8,230)	(3)	(140)	1	(45)	(2)	(8,415)	(4)
Changes in risk parameters in relation to credit quality	-	4	-	3	-	3	-	10
Other items impacting income statement charge/(reversal) (including recoveries)	-	-	-	-	-	(4)	-	(4)
Redemptions	(18,090)	(3)	(838)	(9)	(295)	(1)	(19,223)	(13)
Additional provision for Covid-19 (note ii)								51
Income statement charge for the year								53
Decrease due to write-offs	-	-	-	-	(35)	(11)	(35)	(11)
Other provision movements	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	4
4 April 2020(note ii)	177,754	40	9,595	125	1,419	36	188,768	252
Net carrying amount(note ii)		177,714		9,470		1,383		188,516

 

Reconciliation of movements in gross residential mortgage balances and impairment provisions
	Non-credit impaired				Credit impaired (note i)
	Subject to 12-month ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Total
	Stage 1		Stage 2		Stage 3 and POCI
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 5 April 2018	156,647	17	19,072	171	1,395	47	177,114	235
Stage transfers:
Transfers from Stage 1 to Stage 2	(27,661)	(8)	27,661	8	-	-	-	-
Transfers to Stage 3	(294)	-	(837)	(30)	1,131	30	-	-
Transfers from Stage 2 to Stage 1	35,956	141	(35,956)	(141)	-	-	-	-
Transfers from Stage 3	185	1	547	13	(732)	(14)	-	-
Net remeasurement of ECL arising from transfer of stage		(131)		120		(8)		(19)
Net movement arising from transfer of stage	8,186	3	(8,585)	(30)	399	8	-	(19)
New assets originated or purchased	35,279	6	-	-	-	-	35,279	6
Further lending/(repayments)	(7,459)	(3)	(293)	(1)	(43)	(1)	(7,795)	(5)
Changes in risk parameters in relation to credit quality	-	16	-	1	-	5	-	22
Other items impacting income statement charge/(reversal) (including recoveries)	1	-	-	-	1	(4)	2	(4)
Redemptions	(16,631)	(2)	(1,715)	(14)	(273)	(1)	(18,619)	(17)
Income statement charge for the year								(17)
Decrease due to write-offs	-	-	-	-	(41)	(16)	(41)	(16)
Other provision movements	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	4
4 April 2019	176,023	37	8,479	127	1,438	42	185,940	206
Net carrying amount		175,986		8,352		1,396		185,734

Notes:

i.  Gross balances of credit impaired loans include £155 million (2019: £167 million) of POCI loans, which are presented net of lifetime ECL impairment provisions of £6 million (2019: £6 million).

ii.  An additional provision for credit losses has been recognised to reflect the estimated impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ECLs. For residential mortgages, the additional provision at 4 April 2020 is £51 million. This additional provision has not been allocated to underlying loans or attributed to stages but is shown in the total column of the table. Further detail on the calculation of this additional provision is given in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

Gross balances increased by £2,828 million over the year as a result of positive net lending in specialist residential mortgages.

The stage 2 gross balance increased by £1,116 million, primarily due to net transfers from stage 1 to stage 2 for specialist residential mortgages. The value of transfers between stages 1 and 2 was lower as the prior year values included changes to staging criteria and model assumptions. As the stage of individual loans is assessed monthly, the gross movements between stages 1 and 2 include transfers caused by relatively small changes in PD leading to their breaching the threshold for transferring assets to stage 2 and vice versa.

Total impairment provisions increased by £46 million. The main driver of this increase is the £51 million of additional provision related to Covid-19, offset by the impact of redemptions and write-offs.

Further information on movements in total gross loans and advances to customers and impairment provisions, including the methodology applied in preparing the table, is included in note 10 to the consolidated financial statements.

Reason for residential mortgages being included in stage 2 (note i, ii)
2020	Prime		Specialist		Total
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Quantitative criteria:
Payment status (greater than 30 DPD)	257	3	257	19	514	22
Increase in PD since origination (less than 30 DPD)	1,509	5	2,697	27	4,206	32
Qualitative criteria:
Forbearance (less than 30 DPD)	165	-	5	-	170	-
Interest only - significant risk of inability to refinance at maturity (less than 30 DPD)	-	-	4,678	71	4,678	71
Other qualitative criteria	22	-	5	-	27	-
Total Stage 2 gross balances	1,953	8	7,642	117	9,595	125

Reason for residential mortgages being included in stage 2 (note i)
2019	Prime		Specialist		Total
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Quantitative criteria:
Payment status (greater than 30 DPD)	267	3	213	14	480	17
Increase in PD since origination (less than 30 DPD)	1,613	8	2,186	24	3,799	32
Qualitative criteria:
Forbearance (less than 30 DPD)	148	1	7	-	155	1
Interest only - significant risk of inability to refinance at maturity (less than 30 DPD)	-	-	4,018	77	4,018	77
Other qualitative criteria	20	-	7	-	27	-
Total Stage 2 gross balances	2,048	12	6,431	115	8,479	127

Notes:

i.  Where loans satisfy more than one of the criteria for determining a significant increase in credit risk, the corresponding gross balance has been assigned in the order in which the categories are presented above.

ii.  In recognition of the financial impact that Covid-19 may have on our borrowers, an additional provision of £51 million has been added to the impairment provisions for residential mortgages. This additional provision has not been allocated to underlying loans and therefore has not been attributed to stages. Further detail on the calculation of the additional provision is given in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

Loans which are reported within stage 2 are those which have experienced a significant increase in credit risk since origination, determined through both quantitative and qualitative indicators. The increase in stage 2 balances during the year is within the specialist portfolio and includes the impact of changes to the economic scenarios and their weightings to reflect uncertainty in the economic outlook.

The value of loans reported within stage 2 as a result of being in arrears by 30 days or more remains low at £514 million (2019: £480 million). This category includes all loans greater than 30 days past due (DPD), including those where the original reason for being classified as stage 2 was other than arrears over 30 DPD. The total value of loans in stage 2 due solely to payment status is less than 0.1% (2019: <0.1%) of total stage 2 balances.

The primary quantitative indicators are the outputs of internal credit risk assessments. For retail exposures, PDs are derived using modelled scorecards, which use external information such as that from credit reference agencies, as well as internal information such as known instances of arrears or other financial difficulty. While different approaches are used within each portfolio, current and historical data relating to the exposure are combined with forward-looking macroeconomic information to determine the likelihood of default.

The credit risk of each loan is evaluated at each reporting date by calculating the residual lifetime PD of each loan. For retail loans, the main indicators of a significant increase in credit risk are either of the following:

· the residual lifetime probability of default (PD) exceeds a benchmark determined by reference to the maximum credit risk that would have been accepted at origination

· the residual lifetime PD has increased by at least 75bps and a 4x multiple of the original lifetime PD.

Qualitative indicators are also used to complement the above. These indicators include the increased risk associated with interest only loans which may not be able to refinance at maturity. Also included are forbearance events where full repayment of principal and interest is still anticipated, on a discounted basis. In addition, loans will be moved to stage 2 when certain "backstop" events occur, including arrears of greater than 30 DPD. 

Credit quality

The residential mortgages portfolio comprises many relatively small loans which are broadly homogenous, have low volatility of credit risk outcomes and are geographically diversified. The table below shows the loan balances and provisions for residential mortgages held at amortised cost, by PD range. The PD distributions shown are based on 12-month IFRS 9 PDs at the reporting date.

Loan balance and provisions by PD (notes i and ii)
2020	Gross balances				Provisions				Provision coverage
	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3 and POCI	Total	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3  and POCI	Total
PD Range	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
0.00 to < 0.15%	168,240	5,124	103	173,467	33	40	-	73	0.04
0.15 to < 0.25%	4,756	945	23	5,724	3	9	-	12	0.20
0.25 to < 0.50%	2,317	477	35	2,829	2	7	-	9	0.29
0.50 to < 0.75%	1,227	287	12	1,526	1	5	-	6	0.37
0.75 to < 2.50%	1,109	866	54	2,029	1	18	-	19	0.96
2.50 to < 10.00%	105	1,102	111	1,318	-	19	-	19	1.51
10.00 to < 100%	-	794	203	997	-	27	2	29	2.97
100% (default)	-	-	878	878	-	-	34	34	3.80
Total	177,754	9,595	1,419	188,768	40	125	36	201	0.11

Loan balance and provisions by PD (note i)
2019	Gross balances				Provisions				Provision coverage
	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3  and POCI	Total	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3  and POCI	Total
PD Range	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
0.00 to < 0.15%	165,949	4,278	88	170,315	30	43	-	73	0.04
0.15 to < 0.25%	4,631	731	23	5,385	3	9	-	12	0.23
0.25 to < 0.50%	2,471	490	34	2,995	2	8	-	10	0.33
0.50 to < 0.75%	1,689	270	16	1,975	1	5	-	6	0.29
0.75 to < 2.50%	1,157	879	57	2,093	1	18	-	19	0.93
2.50 to < 10.00%	126	1,057	129	1,312	-	18	1	19	1.45
10.00 to < 100%	-	774	189	963	-	26	3	29	3.00
100% (default)	-	-	902	902	-	-	38	38	4.18
Total	176,023	8,479	1,438	185,940	37	127	42	206	0.11

Notes:

i.  Includes POCI loans of £155 million (2019: £167 million).

ii.  The £51 million additional Covid-19 provision has not been allocated to underlying loans or attributed to stages and is therefore excluded from this table. The additional provision increases the total provision coverage to 0.13%.

Over the year, the PD distribution has remained stable, reflecting the high quality of the residential mortgage portfolios. At 4 April 2020, 98% (2019: 98%) of the portfolio had a PD of less than 2.5%. The provisions allocated to the lowest PD range primarily reflect the fact that the majority of loans are in this range. Changes in provision coverage in the year are principally due to the continued run-off of balances in specialist legacy lending portfolios, together with the impact of updating economic assumptions.

Distribution of new business by borrower type (by value)

Distribution of new business by borrower type (by value) (note i)
	2020	2019
	%	%
Prime:
First time buyers	33	35
Home movers	24	25
Remortgages	20	25
Other	1	1
Total prime	78	86
Specialist:
Buy to let new purchases	6	3
Buy to let remortgages	16	11
Total specialist	22	14
Total new business	100	100

Note:

i.  All new business measures exclude further advances and product switches.

New business by borrower type remains diversified. During the year there has been a shift in the distribution of new business from prime to specialist lending, reflecting TMW's strong presence in the buy to let market, including lending to limited companies, recognising that landlords are increasingly using these as a vehicle for their investment.

In October 2014, the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) introduced a 15% limit on the proportion of new lending for residential mortgages, excluding buy to let, that may be written at income multiples of 4.5 and above. The proportion of new lending at income multiples of 4.5 or higher was 7.8% in the year (2019: 7.7%). This is closely monitored and controlled to remain within risk appetite and FPC limits.

LTV and credit risk concentration

Loan to value (LTV) is calculated by weighting the borrower level LTV by the individual loan balance to arrive at an average LTV. This approach is considered to reflect most appropriately the exposure at risk.

LTV distribution of new business (by value) (note i)
	2020	2019
	%	%
0% to 60%	22	25
60% to 75%	34	33
75% to 80%	7	7
80% to 85%	11	10
85% to 90%	22	22
90% to 95%	4	3
Over 95%	-	-
Total	100	100

Notes:

i.  The LTV of new business excludes further advances and product switches .

ii. The average LTV of loan stock includes both amortised cost and FVTPL balances. There have been no new FVTPL advances during the year.  

Average LTV of new business (by value) (note i)
	2020	2019
	%	%
Prime	74	73
Specialist (buy to let)	65	60
Group	72	71

Average LTV of loan stock (by value) (note ii)
	2020	2019
	%	%
Prime	58	57
Specialist	59	58
Group	58	58

Over the year, the maximum LTV for new prime residential borrowers has remained at 95% and the average LTV of prime new business has remained broadly stable at 74%, as we continue to support first time buyers. In the specialist (buy to let) portfolio, the average LTV of new business increased from 60% to 65% following a shift towards business on longer terms at higher LTVs. The average indexed LTV of total loan stock has remained stable at 58%.

Residential mortgage balances by LTV and region

Geographical concentration by stage

The following table shows residential mortgages, excluding FVTPL balances, by LTV and region across stages 1 and 2 (non credit-impaired) and stage 3 (credit-impaired):

Residential mortgage gross balances by LTV and region
2020	Greater London	Central England	Northern England	South East England	South West England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Stage 1 and 2 loans
Fully collateralised
LTV ratio:
Up to 50%	22,883	10,946	7,695	8,033	5,713	3,040	1,606	913	60,829
50% to 60%	10,973	6,151	4,726	4,051	3,080	1,715	1,004	373	32,073
60% to 70%	10,701	6,871	6,552	4,180	3,418	2,351	1,386	412	35,871
70% to 80%	9,018	5,659	5,593	3,795	3,030	2,466	1,085	419	31,065
80% to 90%	8,360	4,047	3,665	3,448	2,375	1,574	666	346	24,481
90% to 100%	764	562	249	386	503	269	46	91	2,870
	62,699	34,236	28,480	23,893	18,119	11,415	5,793	2,554	187,189	99.1
Not fully collateralised
Over 100% LTV	5	5	16	2	3	6	-	123	160	0.1
Collateral value	4	4	13	2	2	6	-	106	137
Negative equity	1	1	3	-	1	-	-	17	23
Total stage 1 and 2 loans	62,704	34,241	28,496	23,895	18,122	11,421	5,793	2,677	187,349	99.2

Stage 3 and POCI loans
Fully collateralised
LTV ratio:
Up to 50%	214	81	70	66	40	20	12	11	514
50% to 60%	109	48	46	32	26	13	9	4	287
60% to 70%	52	61	53	31	29	19	8	4	257
70% to 80%	27	48	55	16	20	17	14	6	203
80% to 90%	16	13	44	7	5	8	8	3	104
90% to 100%	2	1	15	-	-	3	1	5	27
	420	252	283	152	120	80	52	33	1,392	0.8
Not fully collateralised
Over 100% LTV	-	1	4	1	-	1	1	19	27	-
Collateral value	-	1	3	1	-	1	1	16	23
Negative equity	-	-	1	-	-	-	_-	3	4
Total stage 3 and POCI loans	420	253	287	153	120	81	53	52	1,419	0.8
Total residential mortgages	63,124	34,494	28,783	24,048	18,242	11,502	5,846	2,729	188,768	100.0
Total geographical concentrations	34%	18%	15%	13%	10%	6%	3%	1%	100%

Residential mortgage gross balances by LTV and region
2019	Greater London	Central England	Northern England	South East England	South West England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Stage 1 and 2 loans
Fully collateralised
LTV ratio:
Up to 50%	24,171	10,927	7,408	8,286	5,833	3,104	1,439	970	62,138
50% to 60%	11,296	6,122	4,382	4,221	3,143	1,714	814	382	32,074
60% to 70%	10,060	6,743	6,434	3,928	3,385	2,458	1,285	413	34,706
70% to 80%	8,078	5,498	5,682	3,480	2,757	2,516	1,172	428	29,611
80% to 90%	5,876	3,331	3,679	2,595	2,019	1,488	744	282	20,014
90% to 100%	2,645	705	543	916	517	208	167	84	5,785
	62,126	33,326	28,128	23,426	17,654	11,488	5,621	2,559	184,328	99.1
Not fully collateralised
Over 100% LTV	5	3	17	1	2	6	2	138	174	0.1
Collateral value	4	3	14	1	1	6	1	118	148
Negative equity	1	-	3	-	1	-	1	20	26
Total stage 1 and 2 loans	62,131	33,329	28,145	23,427	17,656	11,494	5,623	2,697	184,502	99.2

Stage 3 and POCI loans
Fully collateralised
LTV ratio:
Up to 50%	233	83	61	61	39	23	11	11	522
50% to 60%	115	50	39	35	25	15	9	5	293
60% to 70%	54	58	56	31	25	20	9	5	258
70% to 80%	15	48	57	17	21	17	11	4	190
80% to 90%	9	14	50	4	3	13	10	4	107
90% to 100%	3	1	22	1	1	3	3	5	39
	429	254	285	149	114	91	53	34	1,409	0.8
Not fully collateralised
Over 100% LTV	-	1	6	-	-	1	1	20	29	-
Collateral value	-	1	5	-	-	1	1	17	25
Negative equity	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	3	4
Total stage 3 and POCI loans	429	255	291	149	114	92	54	54	1,438	0.8
Total residential mortgages	62,560	33,584	28,436	23,576	17,770	11,586	5,677	2,751	185,940	100
Total geographical concentrations	34%	18%	15%	13%	10%	6%	3%	1%	100%

Over the year, the geographical distribution of residential mortgages across the UK has remained stable, with the highest concentration continuing to be in Greater London, at 34% of the total (2019: 34%).

In addition to balances held at amortised cost shown in the table above, there are £71 million (2019: £72 million) of residential mortgages held at FVTPL which have an average LTV of 39% (2019: 40%). The largest geographical concentration within the FVTPL balances is in Greater London, at 49% (2019: 44%).

Arrears and possessions

Residential mortgage lending continues to have a low risk profile as demonstrated by the low level of arrears compared to the industry average:

Number of cases more than 3 months in arrears as % of total book (note i)
	2020	2019
	%	%
Prime	0.33	0.35
Specialist	0.74	0.82
Total	0.41	0.43
UK Finance (UKF) industry average	0.74	0.78

Note:

i.  The methodology for calculating mortgage arrears is based on the UKF definition of arrears, where months in arrears is determined by dividing the arrears balance outstanding by the latest monthly contractual payment.

Number of properties in possession as % of total book
	2020		2019
	Number of properties	%	Number of properties	%
Prime	98	0.01	78	0.01
Specialist	150	0.05	153	0.05
Total	248	0.02	231	0.01
UKF industry average		0.03		0.02

During the year, arrears levels have reduced in both the prime and specialist portfolios.

The number of specialist cases more than 3 months in arrears as a percentage of total book includes both TMW (buy to let) and other cases in smaller legacy portfolios which are in run-off. For TMW alone, the number of cases more than 3 months in arrears is 0.27% of the total TMW book (2019: 0.32%).

The reduction in the number of specialist cases more than 3 months in arrears as a percentage of the total book to 0.74% (2019: 0.82%), is principally due to a change in the treatment of deceased accounts, where a 12 month non-arrears bearing concession has been applied to allow time for the estate to redeem the account. If the full contractual payment is not received during the period of the concession the account is classed as forborne and is not considered to be past due.

Residential mortgages by payment status

The following table shows the payment status of all residential mortgages.

Residential mortgages gross balances by payment status
	2020				2019
	Prime	Specialist	Total		Prime	Specialist	Total
	£m	£m	£m	%	£m	£m	£m	%
Not past due	149,387	36,684	186,071	98.5	149,771	33,468	183,239	98.5
Past due 0 to 1 month	1,062	356	1,418	0.8	1,038	392	1,430	0.8
Past due 1 to 3 months	311	307	618	0.3	318	265	583	0.3
Past due 3 to 6 months	177	142	319	0.2	177	159	336	0.2
Past due 6 to 12 months	112	109	221	0.1	122	121	243	0.1
Past due over 12 months	82	81	163	0.1	84	69	153	0.1
Possessions	9	20	29	-	7	21	28	-
Total residential mortgages	151,140	37,699	188,839	100	151,517	34,495	186,012	100

The proportion of loans in arrears has remained stable at 1.5% (2019: 1.5%) and arrears levels remain low across prime and specialist lending, reflecting the low interest rate environment, supported by robust credit assessment and affordability controls at the point of lending. In total, £352 million (2019: £370 million) of specialist lending balances were more than 3 months past due or in possession, which includes the impact of the change in the treatment of arrears on deceased accounts described above. Of the £352 million (2019: £370 million), £220 million (2019: £233 million) relates to legacy portfolios in run-off.

As at 4 April 2020, the mortgage portfolios include 1,556 (2019: 1,491) mortgage accounts, including those in possession, where payments were more than 12 months in arrears. The total principal outstanding in these cases was £181 million (2019: £165 million), and the total value of arrears was £22 million (2019: £20 million) or 0.01% (2019: 0.01%) of total mortgage balances.

We are providing support to customers who have been financially affected by Covid-19. Payment holidays granted in this respect will suppress the impact of the pandemic on arrears in the short term. Details of payment holidays are given below.

Interest only mortgages

Interest only balances for prime residential mortgages relate primarily to historical balances which were originally advanced as interest only mortgages or where a subsequent change in terms to an interest only basis was agreed. Maturities on interest only mortgages are managed closely, engaging regularly with borrowers to ensure the loan is redeemed or to agree a strategy for repayment. The majority of the specialist lending portfolio comprises buy to let loans, with 89% of the portfolio relating to interest only balances (2019: 89%).

 

Interest only mortgages (gross balance) - term to maturity (note i)
	Term expired (still open)	Due within one year	Due after one year and before two years	Due after two years and before five years	Due after more than five years	Total	% of book
2020	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Prime	68	258	370	1,412	7,726	9,834	6.5
Specialist	134	211	334	1,236	31,737	33,652	89.3
Total	202	469	704	2,648	39,463	43,486	23.0
2019	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Prime	69	278	329	1,532	9,288	11,496	7.6
Specialist	133	166	272	1,281	28,785	30,637	88.8
Total	202	444	601	2,813	38,073	42,133	22.7

Note:

i.  Balances subject to forbearance with agreed term extensions are presented based on the latest agreed contractual term.

Interest only loans that are term expired (still open) are not considered to be past due where contractual interest payments continue to be met, pending renegotiation of the facility. These loans are, however, treated as credit impaired and categorised as stage 3 balances from three months after the maturity date. 

Forbearance

Nationwide is committed to supporting borrowers facing financial difficulty by working with them to find a solution through proactive arrears management and forbearance. In addition, we are supporting borrowers financially affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Further details of this support are provided at the end of this forbearance section.

The Group applies the European Banking Authority (EBA) definition of forbearance.

The following concession events are included within the forbearance reporting for residential mortgages:

Past term interest only concessions

Nationwide works with borrowers who are unable to repay the capital at term expiry of their interest only mortgage. Where a borrower is unable to renegotiate the facility within six months of maturity, but no legal enforcement is pursued, the account is considered forborne. Should another concession event such as a term extension occur within the six month period, this is also classed as forbearance.

Interest only concessions

Where a temporary interest only concession is granted the loans do not accrue arrears for the period of the concession and are not categorised as impaired, unless already impaired, provided the revised interest only repayment amount is maintained.

Capitalisation

When a borrower emerges from financial difficulty and provided they have made at least six full monthly instalments, they are offered the option to capitalise arrears. This results in the account being repaired and the loans are categorised as not impaired provided contractual repayments are maintained.

Capitalisation - temporary suspension of payments following notification of death of borrower

When we are notified of the death of a borrower, we offer a 12 month capitalisation concession to allow time for the estate to redeem the account. The loan does not accrue arrears for the period of the concession although interest will continue to be added. Accounts subject to this concession will be classed as forborne if the full contractual payment is not received.

Term extensions (within term)

Customers in financial difficulty may be allowed to extend the term of their mortgage. On a capital repayment mortgage this will reduce their monthly commitment; interest only borrowers will benefit by having a longer period to repay the capital at maturity.

Permanent interest only conversions

In the past, some borrowers in financial difficulty were granted a permanent interest only conversion, normally reducing their monthly commitment. This facility was withdrawn in March 2012.

The table below provides details of residential mortgages held at amortised cost subject to forbearance. Accounts that are currently subject to forbearance are assessed as in either stage 2 or stage 3:  

Gross balances subject to forbearance (note i)
	2020			2019
	Prime	Specialist	Total	Prime	Specialist	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Past term interest only (note ii)	117	120	237	122	134	256
Interest only concessions	533	48	581	525	59	584
Capitalisation	75	42	117	42	51	93
Capitalisation - notification of death of borrower	156	60	216	150	-	150
Term extensions (within term)	34	13	47	35	13	48
Permanent interest only conversions	2	35	37	3	33	36
Total forbearance (note iii)	917	318	1,235	877	290	1,167
Impairment provisions on forborne loans	5	12	17	5	11	16

Notes:

i.  Where more than one concession event has occurred, balances are reported under the latest event.

ii.  Includes interest only mortgages where a customer is unable to renegotiate the facility within six months of maturity and no legal enforcement is pursued. Should a concession event such as a term extension occur within the six-month period, this will also be classed as forbearance.

iii. For loans subject to concession events, accounts are transferred back to stage 1 or 2 only after being up to date and meeting contractual obligations for a period of 12 months.

Over the year, total balances subject to forbearance have increased to £1,235 million (2019: £1,167 million), which includes an increase in the level of prime mortgage capitalisations agreed for those borrowers who would benefit from this concession, and a change in the treatment of deceased accounts, where a 12 month capitalisation concession has been applied to allow time for the estate to redeem the account. The prior year comparative   has   been restated to include the accounts impacted by this change to the treatment of deceased accounts. The forborne balances as a percentage of total residential mortgage lending have also increased to 0.65% (2019: 0.62%).

In addition to the amortised cost balances above, there are £71 million FVTPL balances (2019: £72 million), of which £9 million (2019: £4 million) are forborne.

Support for borrowers impacted by Covid-19

We recognise that the impact of Covid-19 is a concern for our borrowers and we are offering them help and support in these challenging times. One way in which we are providing this support is by offering three-month mortgage payment holidays. These are a temporary break from mortgage payments that gives borrowers a period of flexibility where they are experiencing or reasonably expect to experience payment difficulties caused by Covid-19. T hese payment holidays have no negative impact on the customer's credit file, and i n accordance with regulatory guidance, have not been included within the forbearance population and do not automatically have an impact on the reported staging balances.

The following table shows the value of residential mortgages with a payment holiday related to Covid-19 as used in the calculation of the Covid-19 additional provision. Further information is included in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

Gross balances subject to a payment holiday due to Covid-19
2020	£m	% of gross balance %	Weighted Average LTV %
Prime	23,541	16	63
Specialist	5,037	13	61
Total	28,578	15	62

The balances included in the table above represent 13% of our prime mortgage lending and 9% of our specialist mortgage lending when calculated on a volume basis.

We are continuing to support borrowers financially affected by the impact of Covid-19. At 30 April, 15% of our prime lending, representing 17% of prime mortgage balances, and 12% of our specialist lending, representing 14% of specialist mortgage balances, have received temporary concessions.

Credit risk - Consumer banking

Summary

The consumer banking portfolio comprises balances on unsecured retail banking products: overdrawn current accounts, personal loans and credit cards. Over the year, total balances across these portfolios have grown by £408 million to £4,994 million (2019: £4,586 million), equating to 9% growth, and credit quality has remained stable. During the year, personal loan balances have increased by 24% to £3,030 million (2019: £2,449 million), due to a combination of competitive pricing and increased personal loan lending to existing members.

Consumer banking gross balances
	2020		2019
	£m	%	£m	%
Overdrawn current accounts	280	5	324	7
Personal loans	3,030	61	2,449	53
Credit cards	1,684	34	1,813	40
Total consumer banking	4,994	100	4,586	100

All consumer banking loans are classified and measured at amortised cost.

Impairment losses for the year
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Overdrawn current accounts	21	9
Personal loans	82	38
Credit cards	56	67
Total	159	114
	%	%
Impairment charge as a % of average gross balance	3.27	2.65

The impairment losses for the year include an additional provision of £43 million, which has been included to reflect the expected impact of Covid-19. The level of this provision reflects the estimated impact on expected credit losses based upon a revised central economic scenario and the credit risk associated with concessions granted in response to Covid-19. The losses also include the impact of continued personal loan book growth.

 

The following table shows consumer banking balances by stage, with the corresponding impairment provisions and resulting provision coverage ratios:

Consumer banking product and staging analysis
	2020					2019
	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Covid-19 additional provision (note i)	Total	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Gross balances
Overdrawn current accounts	149	89	42	-	280	187	100	37	324
Personal loans	2,597	296	137	-	3,030	2,140	186	123	2,449
Credit cards	1,111	442	131	-	1,684	1,211	475	127	1,813
Total	3,857	827	310	-	4,994	3,538	761	287	4,586
Provisions
Overdrawn current accounts	2	17	37	3	59	2	18	33	53
Personal loans	15	33	119	23	190	11	22	107	140
Credit cards	15	91	122	17	245	14	92	119	225
Total	32	141	278	43	494	27	132	259	418
Provisions as a % of total balance	%	%	%		%	%	%	%	%
Overdrawn current accounts	1.75	19.06	87.02	-	21.21	1.30	17.42	89.92	16.37
Personal loans	0.56	11.15	86.78	-	6.27	0.53	12.11	86.58	5.74
Credit cards	1.33	20.67	92.86	-	14.55	1.12	19.33	93.61	12.38
Total	0.82	17.09	89.39	-	9.90	0.77	17.32	90.12	9.11

Note: 

i.  In recognition of the financial impact that Covid-19 may have on our borrowers, an additional provision of £43 million has been added to the impairment provisions for consumer banking. This additional provision has not been allocated to underlying loans and therefore has not been attributed to stages. Further details on the calculation of this additional provision, are given in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements. 

Total gross balances increased to £4,994 million, primarily due to book growth in personal loans. The decreases in overdrawn current account and credit card balances are due to reduced transaction volumes at year end. As at 4 April 2020, 77% (2019: 77%) of the consumer banking portfolio is in stage 1. Over the year, consumer banking balances in stages 2 and 3 have increased in absolute terms, reflecting the growth of the portfolio. The combined stage 2 and 3 proportion of total balances has, however, remained stable at 23% (2019: 23%), reflecting stable underlying credit performance. The majority of the portfolio growth has been in the personal loan portfolio, where the proportion of balances by stage and provisions as a percentage of total balances have remained broadly stable. The increase in the overdrawn current account and credit card provisions as a percentage of balances is a result of additional provisions to reflect the estimated impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on expected credit losses, combined with lower overall gross balances as transaction volumes reduced towards the end of the year.

Consumer banking stage 3 gross balances and provisions include charged off balances. These are accounts which are closed to future transactions and are held on the balance sheet for an extended period (up to 36 months) whilst recovery activities take place. Excluding these charged off balances and related provisions, the provisions as a percentage of total balances is 5.7% (2019: 5.0%).

The table below summarises the movements in the Group's consumer banking balances held at amortised cost, including the impact of ECL impairment provisions. The movements within the table are an aggregation of monthly movements over the year.

Reconciliation of movements in gross consumer banking balances and impairment provisions
	Non-credit impaired				Credit impaired
	Subject to 12-month ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Total
	Stage 1		Stage 2		Stage 3
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 5 April 2019	3,538	27	761	132	287	259	4,586	418
Stage transfers:
Transfers from Stage 1 to Stage 2	(1,505)	(25)	1,505	25	-	-	-	-
Transfers to Stage 3	(15)	-	(141)	(79)	156	79	-	-
Transfers from Stage 2 to Stage 1	1,334	160	(1,334)	(160)	-	-	-	-
Transfers from Stage 3	2	2	14	10	(16)	(12)	-	-
Net remeasurement of ECL arising from transfer of stage		(132)		189		29		86
Net movement arising from transfer of stage	(184)	5	44	(15)	140	96	-	86
New assets originated or purchased	2,248	26	-	-	-	-	2,248	26
Further lending/(repayments)	(1,123)	(23)	77	(11)	(27)	(16)	(1,073)	(50)
Changes in risk parameters in relation to credit quality	-	(3)	-	38	-	28	-	63
Other items impacting income statement charge/(reversal) (including recoveries)	1	-	-	-	(1)	(4)	-	(4)
Redemptions	(623)	-	(55)	(3)	(2)	(2)	(680)	(5)
Additional provision for Covid-19 (note i)								43
Income statement charge for the year								159
Decrease due to write-offs	-	-	-	-	(87)	(87)	(87)	(87)
Other provision movements	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	4
4 April 2020	3,857	32	827	141	310	278	4,994	494
Net carrying amount		3,825		686		32		4,500

Note:

i.  In recognition of the financial impact that Covid-19 may have on our borrowers, an additional provision of £43 million has been added to the impairment provisions for consumer banking. This additional provision has not been allocated to underlying loans and therefore has not been attributed to stages. Further details on the calculation of this additional provision, are given in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

 

Reconciliation of movements in gross consumer banking balances and impairment provisions
	Non-credit impaired				Credit impaired
	Subject to 12-month ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Total
	Stage 1		Stage 2		Stage 3
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 5 April 2018	3,264	25	575	103	268	237	4,107	365
Stage transfers:
Transfers from Stage 1 to Stage 2	(1,332)	(22)	1,332	22	-	-	-	-
Transfers to Stage 3	(12)	-	(121)	(76)	133	76	-	-
Transfers from Stage 2 to Stage 1	1,130	125	(1,130)	(125)	-	-	-	-
Transfers from Stage 3	2	2	16	11	(18)	(13)	-	-
Net remeasurement of ECL arising from transfer of stage		(105)		167		19		81
Net movement arising from transfer of stage	(212)	-	97	(1)	115	82	-	81
New assets originated or purchased	1,787	23	-	-	-	-	1,787	23
Further lending/(repayments)	(761)	(15)	126	(8)	(19)	(17)	(654)	(40)
Changes in risk parameters in relation to credit quality	-	(6)	-	41	-	31	-	66
Other items impacting income statement charge/(reversal) (including recoveries)	2	-	-	-	(1)	(13)	1	(13)
Redemptions	(542)	-	(37)	(3)	(2)	-	(581)	(3)
Income statement charge for the year								114
Decrease due to write-offs	-	-	-	-	(74)	(74)	(74)	(74)
Other provision movements	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	13
4 April 2019	3,538	27	761	132	287	259	4,586	418
Net carrying amount		3,511		629		28		4,168

Gross balances increased by £408 million over the year as a result of personal loan lending.

The stage 2 gross balance increased by £66 million reflecting the book growth in personal loans. The stage 2 balance at 4 April 2020 as a proportion of the total balance is consistent with the prior year at 16.6%. As the stage of individual loans is assessed monthly, the gross movements between stages 1 and 2 include transfers caused by relatively small changes in PD leading to their breaching the threshold for transferring assets to stage 2 and vice versa.

 

Total impairment provisions increased by £76 million. £43 million of the increase relates to the additional provision related to Covid-19, with the majority of the remaining increase reflecting the growth in personal loans. Excluding the additional Covid-19 amount, total provisions as a percentage of total gross balances at 4 April 2020 is 9.0%, in line with the prior year (2019: 9.1%).

Further information on movements in total gross loans and advances to customers and impairment provisions, including the methodology applied in preparing the table, is included in note 10 to the consolidated financial statements.

Reason for consumer banking balances being included in stage 2 (note i)
2020	Overdrawn current accounts		Personal loans		Credit cards		Total
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Quantitative criteria:
Payment status (greater than 30 DPD) (note ii)	4	3	12	5	7	5	23	13
Increase in PD since origination (less than 30 DPD)	74	13	278	28	399	78	751	119
Qualitative criteria:
Forbearance (less than 30 DPD) (note iii)	2	-	-	-	-	-	2	-
Other qualitative criteria (less than 30 DPD)	9	1	6	-	36	8	51	9
Total Stage 2 gross balances	89	17	296	33	442	91	827	141

Reason for consumer banking balances being included in stage 2
2019	Overdrawn current accounts		Personal loans		Credit cards		Total
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Quantitative criteria:
Payment status (greater than 30 DPD) (note ii)	3	2	9	4	6	4	18	10
Increase in PD since origination (less than 30 DPD)	84	14	172	18	414	76	670	108
Qualitative criteria:
Forbearance (less than 30 DPD) (note iii)	2	1	-	-	-	-	2	1
Other qualitative criteria (less than 30 DPD)	11	1	5	-	55	12	71	13
Total Stage 2 gross balances	100	18	186	22	475	92	761	132

Notes:

i.  In recognition of the financial impact that Covid-19 may have on our borrowers, an additional provision of £43 million has been added to the impairment provisions for consumer banking. This additional provision has not been allocated to underlying loans and therefore has not been attributed to stages. Further details on the calculation of this additional provision, are given in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

ii.  This category includes all loans greater than 30 DPD, including those whose original reason for being classified as stage 2 was not arrears over 30 DPD.

iii. Stage 2 forbearance relates to cases where full repayment of principal and interest is still anticipated, on a discounted basis.

Balances reported within stage 2 are those which have experienced a significant increase in credit risk since origination. The significant increase is determined through both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Of the £827 million stage 2 balances (2019: £761 million), only 3% (2019: 2%) are in arrears by 30 days or more, with the majority of balances in stage 2 due to an increase in PD since origination. For the personal loan portfolio, the increase in PD since origination includes the impact of the annual recalibration of the model. The majority of credit card balances included in stage 2 due to qualitative factors relate to exposures where there is increased risk as a result of persistent debt, reflecting regulatory requirements.

The primary quantitative indicators are the outputs of internal credit risk assessments. For retail exposures, PDs are derived using modelled scorecards, which use external information such as that from credit reference agencies as well as internal information such as known instances of arrears or other financial difficulty. While different approaches are used within each portfolio, current and historic data relating to the exposure are combined with forward-looking macroeconomic information to determine the likelihood of default.

The credit risk of each loan is evaluated at each reporting date by calculating its residual lifetime PD. For retail loans, the main indicators of a significant increase in credit risk are either of the following:

· the residual lifetime PD exceeds a benchmark determined by reference to the maximum credit risk that would have been accepted at origination

· the residual lifetime PD has increased by at least 75 basis points and a 4x multiple of the original lifetime PD.

Qualitative criteria include both forbearance events and, within the credit card portfolio, recognition of the risk related to borrowers in persistent debt. In addition, loans are moved to stage 2 when certain "backstop" events occur, including arrears of greater than 30 days past due.

Credit quality

Nationwide adopts robust credit management policies and processes designed to recognise and manage the risks arising from the portfolio.

The following table shows gross balances and provisions for consumer banking balances held at amortised cost, by PD range. The PD distributions shown are based on a 12-month probability of default under IFRS 9 at the reporting date:

Consumer banking gross balances and provisions by PD (note i)
2020	Gross balances				Provisions				Provision coverage
	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Total	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Total
PD range	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
0.00 to <0.15%	934	4	-	938	3	-	-	3	0.36
0.15 to < 0.25%	479	6	-	485	2	-	-	2	0.40
0.25 to < 0.50%	719	19	-	738	3	1	-	4	0.61
0.50 to < 0.75%	376	26	-	402	2	2	-	4	1.05
0.75 to < 2.50%	970	205	-	1,175	11	18	-	29	2.44
2.50 to < 10.00%	371	378	1	750	10	54	-	64	8.47
10.00 to < 100%	8	189	4	201	1	66	3	70	34.51
100% (default)	-	-	305	305	-	-	275	275	90.28
Total	3,857	827	310	4,994	32	141	278	451	9.02

Note:

i.  The £43 million additional Covid-19 provision has not been allocated to underlying loans or attributed to stages and is therefore excluded from this table. The additional provision increases the total provision coverage to 9.90%.

Consumer banking gross balances and provisions by PD
2019	Gross balances				Provisions				Provision coverage
	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Total	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Total
PD range	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
0.00 to <0.15%	1,016	5	-	1,021	3	-	-	3	0.29
0.15 to < 0.25%	364	9	-	373	1	1	-	2	0.48
0.25 to < 0.50%	542	24	-	566	2	2	-	4	0.74
0.50 to < 0.75%	332	26	-	358	2	2	-	4	1.19
0.75 to < 2.50%	911	190	-	1,101	9	21	-	30	2.71
2.50 to < 10.00%	366	349	1	716	9	53	-	62	8.74
10.00 to < 100%	7	158	4	169	1	53	2	56	33.19
100% (default)	-	-	282	282	-	-	257	257	90.98
Total	3,538	761	287	4,586	27	132	259	418	9.11

The credit quality of the consumer banking portfolio has remained broadly stable, benefiting from the continued low interest rate environment, with 90% of the portfolio (2019: 90%) considered good quality with a PD of less than 10%. Changes in provision coverage for loans in different PD ranges are principally due to changes in the mix of products.

Consumer banking balances by payment due status 

Credit risk in the consumer banking portfolios is primarily monitored and reported based on arrears status which is set out below:

Consumer banking gross balances by payment due status
	2020					2019
	Overdrawn current accounts	Personal  loans	Credit cards	Total		Overdrawn current accounts	Personal  loans	Credit cards	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	%	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Not past due	226	2,830	1,528	4,584	91.8	279	2,282	1,667	4,228	92.2
Past due 0 to 1 month	11	53	23	87	1.7	8	37	18	63	1.3
Past due 1 to 3 months	5	12	13	30	0.6	4	11	12	27	0.6
Past due 3 to 6 months	4	11	9	24	0.5	3	8	11	22	0.5
Past due 6 to 12 months	3	14	2	19	0.4	3	15	2	20	0.4
Past due over 12 months	3	12	-	15	0.3	3	14	-	17	0.4
Charged off (note i)	28	98	109	235	4.7	24	82	103	209	4.6
Total	280	3,030	1,684	4,994	100	324	2,449	1,813	4,586	100

Note:

i.  Charged off balances relate to accounts which are closed to future transactions and are held on the balance sheet for an extended period (up to 36 months, depending on the product) whilst recovery procedures take place.

 

Total balances subject to arrears, excluding charged off balances, have increased to £175 million (2019: £149 million). The largest increase is in personal loans, reflecting the growth of this portfolio over the year. Balances on accounts in arrears excluding charged off balances have remained broadly stable at 3.8% (2019: 3.4%).

Payment holidays which have been granted in respect of Covid-19 will suppress the impact of the pandemic on arrears in the short term.

Forbearance

Nationwide is committed to supporting customers facing financial difficulty by working with them to find a solution through proactive arrears management and forbearance. In addition, we are supporting borrowers financially affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Further details of this support are provided at the end of this forbearance section. 

The Group applies the European Banking Authority definition of forbearance.

The following concession events are included within the forbearance reporting for consumer banking:

Payment concession

This concession consists of reduced monthly payments over an agreed period and may be offered to customers with an overdraft or credit card. For credit cards subject to such a concession, arrears do not increase provided the payments are made.

Interest suppressed payment arrangement

This temporary interest payment concession results in reduced monthly payments and may be offered to customers with an overdraft, credit card or personal loan. Interest payments and fees are suppressed during the period of the concession and arrears do not increase. Cases subject to this concession are classified as impaired.

Balances re-aged/re-written

As customers repay their debt in line with the terms of their new arrangement, we will restate their accounts, bringing them into an up-to-date and performing position. For personal loans we will re-write their account over a longer term, to maintain a reduced monthly payment. For credit cards we re-age the account and set the payment status to 'up-to-date', at which point the customer is treated in the same way as any other performing account.

The table below provides details of consumer banking balances subject to forbearance. Accounts that are currently subject to a concession are all assessed as either stage 2, or stage 3 (credit-impaired) where full repayment of principal and interest is no longer anticipated.

Gross balances subject to forbearance (note i)
	2020				2019
	Overdrawn current accounts	Personal loans	Credit cards	Total	Overdrawn current  accounts	Personal  loans	Credit cards	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Payment concession	14	-	1	15	16	-	2	18
Interest suppressed payment concession	7	39	15	61	6	34	15	55
Balance re-aged/re-written	-	1	3	4	-	1	3	4
Total forbearance	21	40	19	80	22	35	20	77
Impairment provisions on forborne loans	12	27	13	52	12	29	14	55

Note:

i.  Where more than one concession event has occurred, balances are reported under the latest event.

Over the year, total balances subject to forbearance have increased slightly to £80 million (2019: £77 million), with forborne balances as a percentage of the total consumer banking lending improving to 1.6% (2019: 1.7%), largely as a result of book growth.

Support for borrowers impacted by Covid-19

We recognise that the impact of Covid-19 is a concern for our consumer banking customers, and we are offering them help and support in these challenging times by introducing several additional concession tools intended to support borrowers who have been financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic. These include the creation of payment holidays on credit cards and personal loans, allowing borrowers to temporarily reduce payments to a nominal amount for 3 months following successful application. Overdraft charges have been reduced for a period of 3 months from 39.9% APR to 18.9% and all customers with current accounts can also apply for an interest free overdraft for 3 months. There will be no negative impacts on the customer's credit file as a result of these measures, and in accordance with regulatory guidance, these concessions are not included within the forbearance population above and do not automatically impact the reported staging balances.

The following table shows the value of consumer credit products with a payment holiday or using an interest free period related to Covid-19 as used to calculate the Covid-19 additional provision. Further information is included in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

Gross balances subject to a payment or interest holiday due to Covid-19
2020	£m	% of gross balance %
Payment Holiday
Personal Loans	225	7
Credit Cards	64	4
Interest Holiday
Current Accounts	8	3
Total	297	6

During April, we have continued to support those borrowers financially affected by the impact of Covid-19 and at 30 April the balances subject to a payment or interest holiday represented 7.7% of gross balances.

 

Credit risk - Commercial and other lending

Summary

The commercial portfolio comprises loans which have been provided to meet the funding requirements of registered social landlords, commercial real estate investors and project finance initiatives. The project finance and commercial real estate portfolios are closed to new business.

Commercial and other lending gross balances
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Registered social landlords (note i)	5,425	5,980
Commercial real estate (CRE)	996	1,383
Project finance (note ii)	712	807
Other lending	-	8
Commercial and other lending balances at amortised cost	7,133	8,178
Fair value adjustment for micro hedged risk (note iii)	741	883
Commercial lending balances - FVTPL	57	57
Total	7,931	9,118

Notes:

i.  Loans to registered social landlords are secured on residential property.

ii.  Loans advanced in relation to project finance are secured on cash flows from government or local authority backed contracts under the Private Finance Initiative.

iii. Micro hedged risk relates to loans hedged on an individual basis.

Over the year, total balances across the commercial portfolios have reduced, reflecting run-off of the closed CRE and project finance books, with borrowers repaying loans at or before loan maturity. As the portfolio balances have reduced, the quality and performance of the portfolios has remained stable. In the registered social landlord portfolio, reductions are due to early repayments and amortisation, and reflect that there has been no material new lending.

Impairment (reversals)/losses for the year for commercial and other lending
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Total	(3)	16

The £3 million impairment reversal for the year primarily relates to a single credit exposure, where an improved outlook has driven a positive reassessment of potential future losses, offset by a £7 million additional provision to reflect the expected impact of Covid-19 on credit losses. The level of this additional provision reflects the estimated impact based upon a revised central economic scenario and the extent of concessions granted in response to Covid-19.

 

The following table shows commercial and other lending balances carried at amortised cost on the balance sheet, with the stage allocation of the exposures, impairment provisions and resulting provision coverage ratios:

Commercial and other lending product and staging analysis
	2020					2019
	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Covid-19 additional provision (note i)	Total	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Gross balances
Registered social landlords	5,385	40	-	-	5,425	5,923	57	-	5,980
CRE	791	155	50	-	996	1,122	213	48	1,383
Project finance	616	73	23	-	712	754	29	24	807
Other lending	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	8
Total	6,792	268	73	-	7,133	7,807	299	72	8,178
Provisions
Registered social landlords	1	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	1
CRE	2	2	18	7	29	2	2	18	22
Project finance	-	1	9	-	10	1	-	17	18
Other lending	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	3	3	27	7	40	4	2	35	41
Provisions as a % of total balance	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Registered social landlords	0.02	0.12	-	-	0.02	0.02	0.18	-	0.02
CRE	0.25	1.29	36.00	-	2.91	0.19	0.96	37.11	1.58
Project finance	-	1.37	39.13	-	1.40	0.15	0.97	71.54	2.20
Other lending	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	0.04	1.12	36.99	-	0.56	0.05	0.81	48.74	0.50

Note:

i.  In recognition of the financial impact that Covid-19 may have on our borrowers, an additional provision of £7 million has been added to the impairment provisions for commercial lending. This additional provision has not been allocated to underlying loans and therefore has not been attributed to stages. Further detail on the calculation of the additional provision, is given in note 8 to the consolidated financial statements.

Over the year, the performance of the commercial portfolio has remained stable, with 95% (2019: 95%) of balances remaining in stage 1. Of the £268 million (2019: £299 million) stage 2 loans, which represent 3.8% (2019: 3.7%) of total balances, less than £1 million (2019: £1 million) is in arrears by 30 days or more, with the remainder in stage 2 due to non-arrears factors such as a deterioration in risk rating or placement on a watchlist.

Within the registered social landlord portfolio, there are no stage 3 assets, and only 1% (2019: 1%) of the exposure is in stage 2.

The CRE stage 2 and 3 balances are in respect of a small number of loans that are subject to increased risk of failure to redeem in full at term maturity, with stage 3 (credit-impaired) loans at £50 million (2019: £48 million) equating to 5% (2019: 3%) of the total CRE exposure.

Loans in the project finance portfolio benefit from long-term cash flows, which typically emanate from the provision of assets such as schools, hospitals, police stations, government buildings and roads, procured under the Private Finance Initiative. 97% of these balances are in respect of fully developed assets. During the year, the project finance stage 3 provisions have reduced to £9 million (2019: £17 million) reflecting an improved outlook for one impaired case.

Credit quality

Nationwide applies robust credit management policies and processes to identify and manage the risks arising from the portfolio.

The following table shows the CRE portfolio by risk grade and the provision coverage for each category. The table includes balances held at amortised cost only.

CRE gross balances by risk grade and provision coverage (note i)
	2020					2019
	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Total	Provision coverage	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Total	Provision coverage
	£m	£m	£m	£m	%	£m	£m	£m	£m	%
Strong	433	18	-	451	0.1	676	57	-	733	0.3
Good	289	67	-	356	0.6	381	76	-	457	0.1
Satisfactory	69	10	-	79	1.7	65	8	-	73	0.4
Weak	-	60	-	60	1.2	-	72	-	72	1.4
Impaired	-	-	50	50	36.2	-	-	48	48	37.1
Total	791	155	50	996	2.3	1,122	213	48	1,383	1.6

Note:

i.  The £7 million additional Covid-19 provision has not been allocated to underlying loans or attributed to stages and is therefore excluded from this table. The additional provision increases the total provision coverage to 2.91%

The risk grades in the table above are based upon supervisory slotting criteria, under which exposures are classified into categories depending on the underlying credit risk, with the assessment based upon financial strength, asset characteristics, the strength of the sponsor and the security. As CRE balances reduce, principally due to early redemptions, the credit quality of the portfolio has remained broadly stable, with 89% (2019: 91%) of the portfolio rated as satisfactory or better.

Risk grades for the project finance portfolio are also based upon supervisory slotting criteria, with 90% of the exposure rated strong or good.

The registered social landlord portfolio is risk rated using an internal PD rating model with the major drivers being financial strength, supported by evaluations of the borrower's oversight and management, alongside their type and size. The distribution of exposures is weighted towards the stronger risk ratings and against a backdrop of zero defaults in the portfolio, the credit quality remains high, with an average 12-month PD of 0.04% across the portfolio.

In addition to the above, £57 million (2019: £57 million) of commercial lending balances are classified as FVTPL, of which £54 million (2019: £53 million) relates to CRE loans with a risk grade of satisfactory.

 

CRE balances by LTV and region

The following table includes both amortised cost and FVTPL CRE balances.

CRE lending gross balances by LTV and region (note i)
	2020			2019
	London	Rest of UK	Total	London	Rest of UK	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Fully collateralised
LTV ratio (note ii):
Less than 25%	62	59	121	89	70	159
25% to 50%	315	254	569	559	298	857
51% to 75%	167	115	282	181	175	356
76% to 90%	3	43	46	1	20	21
91% to 100%	-	-	-	1	6	7
	547	471	1,018	831	569	1,400
Not fully collateralised:
Over 100% LTV	-	32	32	-	36	36
Collateral value	-	19	19	-	19	19
Negative equity	-	13	13	-	17	17
Total CRE loans	547	503	1,050	831	605	1,436
Geographical concentration	52%	48%	100%	58%	42%	100%

Notes:

i.  A CRE loan may be secured on assets located in different regions, with the allocation being based upon the value of the underlying assets in each region.

ii.  The approach to revaluing assets charged as security is determined by the industry sector, the loan balance outstanding and the indexed value of the most recent independent external collateral valuation, with higher risk loans subject to more frequent revaluations to determine provision requirements. The LTV ratio is calculated using the on-balance sheet carrying amount of the loan divided by the indexed value. The Investment Property (IPD) monthly index is used.

Changes to the regional distribution of the CRE portfolio reflect the managed reduction of the portfolio, with 52% (2019: 58%) of the CRE exposure now being secured against assets located in London. As the portfolio reduces, the LTV distribution of the CRE balances has also changed, with 93% (2019: 96%) of the portfolio now having an LTV of 75% or less, and 66% (2019: 71%) of the portfolio having an LTV of 50% or less.

 

Credit risk concentration by industry sector

The following table includes balances held at amortised cost only.

CRE lending gross balances and provisions by industry sector (note i)
	2020		2019
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Retail	202	3	274	1
Office	222	12	281	11
Residential	419	1	625	3
Industrial and warehouse	56	2	74	-
Leisure and hotel	84	-	110	1
Other	13	4	19	6
Total CRE lending	996	22	1,383	22

Note:

i.  The £7 million additional Covid-19 provision has not been allocated to underlying loans and is therefore excluded from this table.

Credit risk exposure by industry sector is broadly unchanged from the prior year, continuing to be spread across the retail, office, residential investment, industrial and leisure sectors. Where a CRE loan is secured on assets crossing different sectors, the sector allocation is based upon the value of the underlying assets in each sector. For CRE exposures, excluding FVTPL balances, the largest exposure is to the residential sector, which represents 42% (2019: 45%) of the total CRE portfolio balance. Over the year, our exposure to retail assets has reduced to £202 million (2019: £274 million), with a weighted average LTV of 53% (2019: 46%). Exposure to the leisure and hotel sector has also reduced to £84 million (2019: £110 million), with a weighted average LTV of 46% (2019: 49%).

In addition to the amortised cost balances included in the table above, there are £54 million (2019: £53 million) of FVTPL commercial lending balances, of which £42 million (2019: £42 million) relates to the office sector and £12 million (2019: £12 million) relates to the retail sector.

CRE balances by payment due status

Of the £1,050 million (2019: £1,436 million) CRE exposure, including FVTPL balances, £14 million (2019: £24 million) relates to balances with arrears. Of these, £6 million (2019: £2 million) have arrears greater than 3 months, driven principally by one case which has exceeded its contractual maturity date, and where an exit strategy is being pursued.

Forbearance

Nationwide is committed to supporting borrowers facing financial difficulty by working with them to find a solution through proactive arrears management and forbearance. In addition, we are supporting borrowers financially affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Further details of this support are provided at the end of this forbearance section.

Forbearance is recorded and reported at borrower level and applies to all commercial lending, including impaired exposures and borrowers subject to enforcement and recovery action. The Group applies the European Banking Authority definition of forbearance.

For commercial customers in financial difficulty, the following concession events are included within forbearance reporting:

Refinance

Debt restructuring, either mid-term or at maturity, will be considered where asset sales or external refinance cannot be secured to repay facilities in full and where a restructure is considered to provide the best debt recovery outcome for both the customer and Nationwide.

Interest concession

The temporary postponement of interest or a reduction to the interest rate charged, during which period the loans do not accrue arrears, may be considered where the customer is experiencing payment difficulties.

Capital concession

Capital concessions consist of temporary suspensions to capital repayments to allow the customer time to overcome payment difficulties, the full or partial consolidation of previous payment arrears or the partial write-off of debt.

Security amendment

Where a customer seeks the release of assets charged to Nationwide as security for their commercial loan, this will be treated as forbearance where Nationwide's position is weakened in terms of either the loan to value of the remaining exposure or the level of interest cover available.

Extension at maturity

Customers who are unable to repay the loan at term expiry may be given short term maturity extensions to allow them time to negotiate the repayment of facilities in full either via asset sales or external refinance.

Breach of covenant

Where a customer is unable to comply with either financial or non-financial covenants, as specified in their loan agreement, a temporary waiver or amendment to the covenants will be considered, as appropriate.

The table below provides details of commercial loans that are currently subject to forbearance by concession event.

Gross balances subject to forbearance (note i)
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Refinance	43	44
Modifications:
Payment concession	31	2
Security amendment	8	6
Extension at maturity	19	12
Breach of covenant	126	122
Total	227	186
Total impairment provision on forborne loans	14	23

Note:

i.  Loans where more than one concession event has occurred are reported under the latest event.

During the year, amortised cost balances subject to forbearance have increased, principally reflecting the support measures put in place as we manage the runoff of the CRE portfolio. The reduction in the total impairment provision on forborne loans to £14 million (2019: £23 million) principally reflects an improved outlook for one impaired case.

In addition to the amortised cost balances included in the table above, there are £57 million (2019: £57 million) of FVTPL commercial lending balances, none (2019: none) of which are forborne.

Support for borrowers impacted by Covid-19

We recognise the impact of Covid-19 on our commercial customers, and we are offering them help and support in these challenging times. Temporary measures granted, to give our customers a period of flexibility, include 3 month capital and interest repayment holidays, 6 month capital repayment holidays and extensions at loan maturity of up to 12 months. In accordance with regulatory guidance, these concessions are not included within the forbearance population above and do not automatically have an impact on the reported staging of balances.

No concessions have been required in the registered social landlord or project finance portfolios.

The following table shows the value of the CRE portfolio with a concession related to Covid-19 at the balance sheet date:

Gross CRE balances subject to a concession due to Covid-19 (note i)
2020	£m	% of book	Weighted Average LTV
		%	%
3 month capital and interest repayment holiday	112	11.2	49
6 month capital repayment holiday	96	9.7	41
Extension at maturity	1	0.1	29
3 month capital and interest repayment holiday and extension	1	0.1	38
6 month capital repayment holiday and extension	4	0.4	37
Total	214	21.5	45

Note:

i.  Where a concession is granted on a commercial loan, the total exposure to the borrower is reported in the table above.

Balances subject to Covid-19 related temporary measures, at £214 million, represent 21.5% of the CRE portfolio balances and 11% of our CRE borrowers. The cases that have received these temporary concessions have a weighted average LTV of 45%, and only £2.2 million of loan balances have an LTV greater than 65%. Concessions have been agreed across all industry sectors, with a weighting towards the residential sector, which accounts for 47% of the balances subject to a concession due to Covid-19, reflecting the portfolio concentration to this industry sector.

We are continuing to support borrowers financially affected by the impact of Covid-19 and at 30 April 2020, 21% of our CRE borrowers, representing 40% of CRE portfolio balances, had received temporary concessions. 

Credit risk - Treasury assets

Summary

The treasury portfolio is held primarily for liquidity management and, in the case of derivatives, for market risk management. As at 4 April 2020 treasury assets represented 17.0% (2019: 15.2%) of total assets. There are no exposures to emerging markets, hedge funds or credit default swaps.

Investment activity remains restricted to high quality liquid assets, including assets eligible for central bank operations. The size of the portfolio has increased, predominantly from higher government bond holdings that now include exposure to Japan and several Canadian issuers; no changes in policy or risk appetite are proposed as a result of Covid-19. Derivatives are used to economically hedge financial risks inherent in core lending and funding activities and are not used for trading or speculative purposes.

This table shows the classification of treasury asset balances:

Treasury asset balances
	Classification	2020	2019
		£m	£m
Cash	Amortised cost	13,748	12,493
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	Amortised cost	3,636	4,009
Investment securities	FVOCI	18,367	14,500
Investment securities	FVTPL	12	78
Investment securities	Amortised cost	1,625	1,656
Liquidity and investment portfolio		37,388	32,736
Derivative instruments (note i)	FVTPL	4,771	3,562
Treasury assets		42,159	36,298

Note:

i.  Derivatives are classified as assets where their fair value is positive and liabilities where their fair value is negative. As at 4 April 2020, derivative liabilities were £1,924 million (2019: £1,593 million).

Managing treasury credit risks

Credit risk within the treasury portfolio arises primarily from the instruments held and transacted by the Treasury function for operational, liquidity and investment purposes. In addition, counterparty credit risk arises from the use of derivatives to reduce exposure to market risks; these are only transacted with highly rated organisations and are collateralised under market standard documentation. The treasury credit risk function manages all aspects of credit risk in accordance with the Society's risk governance frameworks, under the supervision of the Credit Committee.

A monthly review is undertaken of the current and expected future performance of treasury assets that determines expected credit loss (ECL) provision requirements. There were no impairment losses for the year ended 4 April 2020 (2019: £nil). For financial assets classified as FVTPL, no provisions are calculated as credit risk is reflected in the carrying value of the asset; no additional provision information is therefore disclosed in respect of these assets. For financial assets held at amortised cost or at FVOCI, reflecting the credit quality of treasury assets, all exposures within the table below are classified as stage 1. There are no assets in stage 2 (2019: £1.5 million) or stage 3.

Impairment provisions on treasury assets
	2020		2019
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	3,636	-	4,009	-
Investment securities - FVOCI	18,367	-	14,500	-
Investment securities - amortised cost	1,625	-	1,656	-

Liquidity and investment portfolio

The liquidity and investment portfolio of £37,388 million (2019: £32,736 million) comprises liquid assets and other securities. An analysis of the on-balance sheet portfolios is set out below:

Liquidity and investment portfolio by credit rating (note i)
2020		AAA	AA	A	Other	UK	US	Europe	Other
	£m	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Liquid assets:
Cash and reserves at central banks	13,748	-	100	-	-	100	-	-	-
Government bonds (note ii)	14,914	34	58	8	-	47	25	16	12
Supranational bonds	983	87	13	-	-	-	-	-	100
Covered bonds (note iii)	1,583	100	-	-	-	68	-	16	16
Residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS)	483	100	-	-	-	72	-	28	-
Asset backed securities (other)	351	100	-	-	-	59	-	41	-
Liquid assets total	32,062	26	70	4	-	70	11	9	10
Other securities (note iv):
RMBS FVOCI	17	100	-	-	-	100	-	-	-
RMBS amortised cost	1,625	83	12	5	-	100	-	-	-
Other investments (note v)	48	-	62	-	38	38	-	62	-
Other securities total	1,690	81	13	4	2	98	-	2	-
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	3,636	-	79	20	1	92	3	4	1
Total	37,388	26	69	5	-	73	10	9	8

Liquidity and investment portfolio by credit rating (note i)
2019		AAA	AA	A	Other	UK	US	Europe	Other
	£m	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Liquid assets:
Cash and reserves at central banks	12,493	-	100	-	-	100	-	-	-
Government bonds (note ii)	11,581	29	71	-	-	63	23	14	-
Supranational bonds	725	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	100
Covered bonds (note iii)	1,202	100	-	-	-	59	-	18	23
Residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS)	556	100	-	-	-	54	-	46	-
Asset backed securities (other)	258	100	-	-	-	49	-	51	-
Liquid assets total	26,815	23	77	-	-	78	10	8	4
Other securities (note iv):
RMBS FVOCI	142	35	20	45	-	100	-	-	-
RMBS amortised cost	1,656	84	6	8	2	100	-	-	-
Other investments (note v)	114	-	29	52	19	19	52	29	-
Other securities total	1,912	75	9	13	3	95	3	2	-
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	4,009	-	51	49	-	86	7	6	1
Total	32,736	24	70	6	-	80	9	8	3

Notes:

i.  Ratings used are obtained from Standard & Poor's (S&P) and from Moody's or Fitch if no S&P rating is available. For loans and advances to banks and similar institutions, internal ratings are used.

ii.  Balances classified as government bonds include government guaranteed and agency bonds.

iii. Prior year ratings have been restated to be consistent with the current year presentation.

iv. Includes RMBS (UK buy to let and UK Non-conforming) not eligible for the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR).

v.  Includes investment securities held at FVTPL of £12 million (2019: £78 million).

 

Country exposures

This table summarises the exposure (shown at the balance sheet carrying value) to institutions outside the UK. None of the exposures were in stage 2 or 3 as at 4 April 2020:

Country exposures
2020	Government bonds	Mortgage backed securities	Covered bonds	Supranational bonds	Loans and advances to banks  and similar institutions	Other assets	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Austria	369	-	-	-	-	-	369
Belgium	390	-	-	-	-	-	390
Finland	381	-	25	-	-	-	406
France	265	-	22	-	-	30	317
Germany	639	-	31	-	162	144	976
Ireland	44	-	-	-	-	-	44
Netherlands	194	133	-	-	-	-	327
Spain	-	-	-	-	1	-	1
Total Eurozone	2,282	133	78	-	163	174	2,830
USA	3,703	-	-	-	94	-	3,797
Rest of world (note i)	1,958	-	424	983	43	-	3,408
Total	7,943	133	502	983	300	174	10,035

Country exposures
2019	Government bonds	Mortgage backed securities	Covered bonds	Supranational bonds	Loans and  advances to banks and similar institutions	Other  assets	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Belgium	208	-	-	-	-	-	208
Finland	244	-	24	-	-	-	268
France	185	-	-	-	24	33	242
Germany	673	-	15	-	190	132	1,010
Netherlands	178	255	-	-	-	-	433
Spain	-	-	-	-	18	-	18
Total Eurozone	1,488	255	39	-	232	165	2,179
USA	2,642	-	-	-	265	59	2,966
Rest of world (note i)	140	-	455	725	60	-	1,380
Total	4,270	255	494	725	557	224	6,525

Note:

i.  Rest of world exposure is to Australia, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Norway and Sweden.

Derivative financial instruments

Derivatives are used to manage exposure to market risks, and not for trading or speculative purposes, although the application of accounting rules can create volatility in the income statement in a given financial year. The fair value of derivative assets as at 4 April 2020 was £4.8 billion (2019: £3.6 billion) and the fair value of derivative liabilities was £1.9 billion (2019: £1.6 billion).

To comply with EU regulatory requirements, Nationwide, as a direct member of a central counterparty (CCP), has central clearing capability which it uses to clear standardised derivatives. Where derivatives are not cleared at a CCP they are transacted under the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement. A Credit Support Annex (CSA) is always executed in conjunction with the ISDA Master Agreement. Under the terms of a CSA, collateral is passed between parties to mitigate the market-contingent counterparty risk inherent in the outstanding positions. CSAs are two-way agreements where both parties post collateral dependent on the exposure of the derivative. Collateral is paid or received on a regular basis (typically daily) to mitigate the mark to market exposures. Market standard CSA collateral allows GBP, EUR and USD cash, and in some cases, extends to high grade sovereign debt securities; both cash and securities are currently held as collateral by the Society.

Nationwide's CSA legal documentation for derivatives grants legal rights of set-off for transactions with the same counterparty. Accordingly, the credit risk associated with such positions is reduced to the extent that negative mark to market values offset positive mark to market values in the calculation of credit risk within each netting agreement.

Under the terms of CSA netting agreements, outstanding transactions with the same counterparty can be offset and settled on a net basis following a default, or another predetermined event. Under these arrangements, netting benefits of £1.6 billion (2019: £1.4 billion) were available and £3.0 billion of collateral (2019: £2.1 billion) was held.

This table shows the exposure to counterparty credit risk for derivative contracts after netting benefits and collateral:

Derivative credit exposure
	2020				2019
Counterparty credit quality	AA	A	BBB	Total	AA	A	BBB	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Gross positive fair value of contracts as reported on the balance sheet	1,470	3,291	10	4,771	1,096	2,460	6	3,562
Netting benefits	(481)	(1,157)	(10)	(1,648)	(350)	(1,007)	(6)	(1,363)
Net current credit exposure	989	2,134	-	3,123	746	1,453	-	2,199
Collateral (cash)	(982)	(1,924)	-	(2,906)	(732)	(1,398)	-	(2,130)
Collateral (securities)	-	(91)	-	(91)
Net derivative credit exposure	7	119	-	126	14	55	-	69

 

Liquidity and funding risk

Summary

Liquidity risk is the risk that Nationwide is unable to meet its liabilities as they fall due and maintain member and external stakeholder confidence. Funding risk is the risk that Nationwide is unable to maintain diverse funding sources in wholesale and retail markets and manage excessive concentrations of funding types.

Liquidity and funding risks are managed within a comprehensive risk framework which includes policies, strategy, limit setting and monitoring, stress testing and robust governance controls. This framework ensures that Nationwide maintains stable and diverse funding sources and a sufficient holding of high-quality liquid assets such that there is no significant risk that liabilities cannot be met as they fall due.

Liquidity and funding levels continued to be within Board risk appetite and regulatory requirements throughout the year. This includes the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR), which ensures that sufficient high quality liquid assets are held to survive a short term severe but plausible liquidity stress. Nationwide's average LCR over the 12 months ending 4 April 2020 increased to 152% (2019: 143%). The LCR as at 4 April 2020 was 163% (2019: 150%). Nationwide continues to manage its liquidity against its internal risk appetite, which is more prudent than regulatory requirements.

The position against the longer-term funding metric, the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) is also monitored. Based on current interpretations of expected European regulatory requirements and guidance, the NSFR at 4 April 2020 was 134% (2019: 130%) which exceeds the expected 100% minimum future requirement.

Funding risk

Funding strategy

Nationwide's funding strategy is to remain predominantly retail funded, as set out below.

Funding profile
Assets	2020	2019	Liabilities	2020	2019
(note i)	£bn	£bn		£bn	£bn
Retail mortgages	188.6	185.8	Retail funding	159.7	154.0
Treasury assets (including liquidity portfolio)	37.4	32.7	Wholesale funding	62.3	61.2
Commercial lending	7.9	9.1	Other liabilities	3.5	3.0
Consumer lending	4.5	4.2	Capital and reserves (note ii)	22.5	20.1
Other assets	9.6	6.5
	248.0	238.3		248.0	238.3

Notes:

i.  The figures in the above table are stated net of impairment provisions where applicable.

ii.  Capital and reserves include all subordinated liabilities and subscribed capital.

At 4 April 2020, Nationwide's loan to deposit ratio, which represents loans and advances to customers divided by the total of shares and other deposits, was 122.4% (2019: 125.2%).

Wholesale funding

The wholesale funding portfolio comprises a range of secured and unsecured instruments to ensure that a stable and diversified funding base is maintained across a range of instruments, currencies, maturities and investor types. Part of Nationwide's wholesale funding strategy is to remain active in core markets and currencies. A funding risk limit framework also ensures that a prudent funding mix and maturity concentration profile is maintained and limits the level of encumbrance to ensure enough contingent funding capacity is retained in the event of a stress.

Wholesale funding has increased by £1.1 billion to £62.3 billion during the year. The wholesale funding ratio (on-balance sheet wholesale funding as a proportion of total funding liabilities) was 28.5% at 4 April 2020 (2019: 28.6%).

The table below sets out Nationwide's wholesale funding by currency.

Wholesale funding by currency
	2020						2019
	GBP	EUR	USD	Other	Total	% of total	GBP	EUR	USD	Other	Total	% of  total
	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn		£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn
Repos	0.5	0.1	-	-	0.6	1	0.4	0.3	0.1	-	0.8	1
Deposits	6.2	1.2	1.3	-	8.7	14	6.0	1.2	0.1	-	7.3	12
Certificates of deposit	1.5	0.4	0.1	-	2.0	3	3.2	1.1	0.5	-	4.8	8
Commercial paper	-	-	1.6	-	1.6	3	-	0.3	2.9	-	3.2	5
Covered bonds	5.0	13.4	0.8	0.6	19.8	31	3.8	12.9	-	0.1	16.8	28
Medium term notes	1.9	2.5	2.2	0.6	7.2	12	2.0	3.0	1.9	0.6	7.5	12
Securitisations	2.2	0.9	1.1	-	4.2	7	0.7	1.1	1.2	-	3.0	5
Term Funding Scheme (TFS)	17.0	-	-	-	17.0	27	17.0	-	-	-	17.0	28
Other	0.2	0.8	0.2	-	1.2	2	0.2	0.6	-	-	0.8	1
Total	34.5	19.3	7.3	1.2	62.3	100	33.3	20.5	6.7	0.7	61.2	100

The residual maturity of the wholesale funding book, on a contractual maturity basis, is set out below.

Wholesale funding - residual maturity
2020	Not more than one month	Over one month but not more than three months	Over three months but not more than six months	Over six months but not more than one year	Subtotal less than one year	Over one year but not more than two years	Over two years	Total
	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn
Repos	0.6	-	-	-	0.6	-	-	0.6
Deposits	5.2	1.6	1.9	-	8.7	-	-	8.7
Certificates of deposit	0.1	1.7	0.2	-	2.0	-	-	2.0
Commercial paper	-	0.9	0.7	-	1.6	-	-	1.6
Covered bonds	-	-	0.9	2.6	3.5	2.6	13.7	19.8
Medium term notes	-	-	-	0.2	0.2	0.7	6.3	7.2
Securitisations	0.3	-	0.5	0.4	1.2	0.7	2.3	4.2
TFS	-	-	-	6.0	6.0	11.0	-	17.0
Other	-	-	-	-	-	0.2	1.0	1.2
Total	6.2	4.2	4.2	9.2	23.8	15.2	23.3	62.3
Of which secured	0.9	1.2	1.4	9.0	12.5	14.5	16.8	43.8
Of which unsecured	5.3	3.0	2.8	0.2	11.3	0.7	6.5	18.5
% of total	10.0	6.7	6.7	14.8	38.2	24.4	37.4	100.0

Wholesale funding - residual maturity
2019	Not more than one month	Over one month but not more than three months	Over three months but not more than six months	Over six months but not more than one year	Subtotal less  than one year	Over one year but not more  than two years	Over two years	Total
	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn
Repos	0.8	-	-	-	0.8	-	-	0.8
Deposits	4.5	0.6	2.2	-	7.3	-	-	7.3
Certificates of deposit	-	2.3	2.3	0.2	4.8	-	-	4.8
Commercial paper	-	2.0	1.2	-	3.2	-	-	3.2
Covered bonds	0.8	0.9	-	-	1.7	3.3	11.8	16.8
Medium term notes	-	0.6	0.4	0.9	1.9	0.1	5.5	7.5
Securitisations	0.4	-	0.1	0.3	0.8	1.0	1.2	3.0
TFS	-	-	-	-	-	6.0	11.0	17.0
Other	-	-	-	-	-	0.2	0.6	0.8
Total	6.5	6.4	6.2	1.4	20.5	10.6	30.1	61.2
Of which secured	2.0	0.9	0.1	0.3	3.3	10.5	24.6	38.4
Of which unsecured	4.5	5.5	6.1	1.1	17.2	0.1	5.5	22.8
% of total	10.6	10.5	10.1	2.3	33.5	17.3	49.2	100.0

At 4 April 2020, cash, government bonds and supranational bonds included in the liquid asset buffer represented 122% of wholesale funding maturing in less than one year, assuming no rollovers (2019: 120%).

 

Liquidity risk

Liquidity strategy

Sufficient liquid assets, both in terms of amount and quality, are held to meet daily cash flow needs as well as simulated stressed requirements driven by the Society's risk appetite and regulatory assessments. This includes prudent management of the currency mix of liquid assets to ensure there is no undue reliance on currencies not consistent with the profile of stressed outflows.

Liquid assets are held and managed centrally by the Treasury function. A high-quality liquidity portfolio is maintained, predominantly comprising reserves held at central banks and highly rated debt securities issued by a restricted range of governments, central banks and supranationals.

The Society's risk appetite, as set by the Board, defines the size and mix of the liquid asset buffer, and is translated into a set of liquidity risk limits. The buffer composition is also influenced by other relevant considerations such as stress testing and regulatory requirements.

Liquid assets

The table below sets out the sterling equivalent fair value of the liquidity portfolio, by issuing currency. It includes off-balance sheet liquidity, such as securities received through reverse repurchase (repo) agreements, and excludes securities encumbered through repo agreements and for other purposes.

Liquid assets
	2020					2019
	GBP	EUR	USD	Other (note i)	Total	GBP	EUR	USD	Other	Total
	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn	£bn
Cash and reserves at central banks	13.7	-	-	-	13.7	12.4	0.1	-	-	12.5
Government bonds (note ii)	6.8	2.3	3.8	1.5	14.4	7.8	0.7	2.8	-	11.3
Supranational bonds	0.3	0.4	0.2	-	0.9	0.5	-	0.2	-	0.7
Covered bonds	0.5	1.0	0.1	-	1.6	0.4	0.7	-	-	1.1
Residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) (note iii)	0.5	0.1	0.1	-	0.7	0.6	0.3	0.1	-	1.0
Asset-backed securities and other securities	0.2	0.1	-	-	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.1	-	0.3
Total	22.0	3.9	4.2	1.5	31.6	21.8	1.9	3.2	-	26.9

Notes:

i.  Other currencies primarily consist of Japanese Yen and Canadian dollars.

ii.  Balances classified as government bonds include government guaranteed and agency bonds.

iii. Balances include all RMBS held by the Society which can be monetised through sale or repo.

The average combined month end balance during the year of cash and reserves at central banks, and government and supranational bonds, was £29.3 billion (2019: £27.8 billion).

Nationwide also holds a portfolio of high quality, central bank eligible covered bonds, RMBS and asset-backed securities. Other securities are held that are not eligible for central bank operations but can be monetised through repurchase agreements with third parties or through sale.

 

Nationwide undertakes securities financing transactions in the form of repurchase agreements. This demonstrates the liquid nature of the assets held in its liquid asset buffer as well as satisfying regulatory requirements. Cash is borrowed in return for pledging assets as collateral and because settlement is on a simultaneous 'delivery versus payment' basis, the main credit risk arises from intra-day changes in the value of the collateral. This is largely mitigated by Nationwide's collateral management processes.

Repo market capacity is regularly assessed and tested to ensure there is sufficient capacity to monetise the liquid asset buffer rapidly in a stress.

For contingent purposes, Nationwide pre-positions unencumbered mortgage assets at the Bank of England which can be used in the Bank of England's liquidity operations if market liquidity is severely disrupted.

Residual maturity of financial assets and liabilities

The table below segments the carrying value of financial assets and financial liabilities into relevant maturity groupings based on the final contractual maturity date (residual maturity):

Residual maturity (note i)
2020	Due less than one month (note ii)	Due between one and three months	Due between three and six months	Due between six and nine months	Due between nine and twelve months	Due between one and two years	Due between two and five years	Due after more than five years	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Financial assets
Cash	13,748	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13,748
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	2,832	-	-	-	-	-	-	804	3,636
Investment securities	18	495	376	107	137	373	4,715	13,783	20,004
Derivative financial instruments	33	77	347	35	212	862	978	2,227	4,771
Fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk	25	65	124	150	122	388	554	346	1,774
Loans and advances to customers	2,856	1,395	2,067	2,152	2,129	8,629	23,624	158,126	200,978
Total financial assets	19,512	2,032	2,914	2,444	2,600	10,252	29,871	175,286	244,911
Financial liabilities
Shares	139,870	1,205	1,905	2,003	1,932	5,219	6,377	1,180	159,691
Deposits from banks and similar institutions	3,610	1,202	-	2,000	4,000	11,000	-	-	21,812
Of which repo	638	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	638
Of which TFS	-	-	-	2,000	4,000	11,000	-	-	17,000
Other deposits	2,164	377	1,881	17	23	10	10	-	4,482
Fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk	5	2	1	2	-	7	12	-	29
Secured funding - ABS and covered bonds	242	26	1,475	548	2,474	3,425	10,062	6,703	24,955
Senior unsecured funding	150	2,673	824	-	117	750	3,866	2,628	11,008
Derivative financial instruments	152	95	12	33	44	29	266	1,293	1,924
Subordinated liabilities	32	-	729	2	-	-	2,577	5,977	9,317
Subscribed capital (note iii)	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	250	253
Total financial liabilities	146,226	5,581	6,828	4,605	8,590	20,440	23,170	18,031	233,471
Off-balance sheet commitments (note iv)	11,416	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11,416
Net liquidity difference	(138,130)	(3,549)	(3,914)	(2,161)	(5,990)	(10,188)	6,701	157,255	24
Cumulative liquidity difference	(138,130)	(141,679)	(145,593)	(147,754)	(153,744)	(163,932)	(157,231)	24	-

Residual maturity (note i)
2019	Due less than one month (note ii)	Due between one and three months	Due between three and six months	Due between six and nine months	Due between nine and twelve months	Due between one and two years	Due between two and five years	Due after more than five years	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Financial assets
Cash	12,493	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12,493
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	3,363	-	-	-	-	-	-	646	4,009
Investment securities	16	20	114	284	78	971	5,558	9,193	16,234
Derivative financial instruments	18	127	29	33	70	535	1,183	1,567	3,562
Fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk	(2)	4	11	26	26	132	71	143	411
Loans and advances to customers	3,024	1,393	1,982	2,003	1,974	8,303	23,549	156,823	199,051
Total financial assets	18,912	1,544	2,136	2,346	2,148	9,941	30,361	168,372	235,760
Financial liabilities
Shares	131,451	3,039	4,070	1,482	1,475	3,926	7,386	1,140	153,969
Deposits from banks and similar institutions	3,026	1	122	-	-	6,000	11,000	-	20,149
Of which repo	849	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	849
Of which TFS	-	1	-	-	-	6,000	11,000	-	17,001
Other deposits	2,295	625	2,094	25	19	4	12	-	5,074
Fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk	-	(1)	(1)	-	(1)	(2)	(12)	-	(17)
Secured funding - ABS and covered bonds	1,183	887	132	141	148	4,367	7,754	5,777	20,389
Senior unsecured funding	43	4,890	3,979	512	466	99	2,297	3,267	15,553
Derivative financial instruments	36	118	21	10	12	127	69	1,200	1,593
Subordinated liabilities	18	-	54	3	-	662	756	5,213	6,706
Subscribed capital (note iii)	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	247	250
Total financial liabilities	138,053	9,560	10,472	2,173	2,119	15,183	29,262	16,844	223,666
Off-balance sheet commitments (note iv)	12,956	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12,956
Net liquidity difference	(132,097)	(8,016)	(8,336)	173	29	(5,242)	1,099	151,528	(862)
Cumulative liquidity difference	(132,097)	(140,113)	(148,449)	(148,276)	(148,247)	(153,489)	(152,390)	(862)	-

Notes:

i.  The analysis excludes certain non-financial assets (including property, plant and equipment, intangible assets, other assets, deferred tax assets and accrued income and prepaid expenses) and non-financial liabilities (including provisions for liabilities and charges, accruals and deferred income, current tax liabilities and other liabilities). The retirement benefit surplus/deficit and lease liabilities have also been excluded.

ii.  Due less than one month includes amounts repayable on demand.

iii. The principal amount for undated subscribed capital is included within the due after more than five years column.

iv. Off-balance sheet commitments include amounts payable on demand for undrawn loan commitments, customer overpayments on residential mortgages where the borrower can draw down the amount overpaid, and commitments to acquire financial assets.

In practice, customer behaviours mean that liabilities are often retained for longer than their contractual maturities and assets are repaid earlier. This gives rise to funding mismatches on the balance sheet. The balance sheet structure and risks are managed and monitored by Nationwide's Assets and Liabilities Committee (ALCO). Judgement and past behavioural performance of each asset and liability class are used to forecast likely cash flow requirements. As part of its response to Covid-19, as at 4 April 2020 the Group offered penalty-free early access to savings from fixed term accounts. Additionally, as a result of interest rate reductions prior to the balance sheet date, commercial notice accounts also became notice-free for a temporary period. These changes may result in a portion of customers accessing their savings before the contractual maturity date.
 

Financial liabilities - gross undiscounted contractual cash flows

The tables below provide an analysis of gross contractual cash flows. The totals differ from the analysis of residual maturity as they include estimated future interest payments, calculated using balances outstanding at the balance sheet date, contractual maturities and appropriate forward-looking interest rates.

Amounts are allocated to the relevant maturity band based on the timing of individual contractual cash flows.

Gross contractual cash flows
2020	Due less than one month (note i)	Due between one and three months	Due between three and six months	Due between six and nine months	Due between nine and twelve months	Due between one and two years	Due between two and five years	Due after more than five years	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Shares	139,870	1,260	1,958	2,052	1,977	5,358	6,597	1,180	160,252
Deposits from banks and similar institutions	3,610	1,206	4	2,004	4,003	11,005	-	-	21,832
Other deposits	2,164	382	1,883	17	23	10	10	-	4,489
Secured funding - ABS and covered bonds	247	34	1,506	581	2,644	3,589	10,526	6,609	25,736
Senior unsecured funding	151	2,681	871	4	182	890	4,145	2,621	11,545
Subordinated liabilities	36	-	806	43	96	276	3,188	6,304	10,749
Subscribed capital (note ii)	1	1	4	3	4	13	40	255	321
Total non-derivative financial liabilities	146,079	5,564	7,032	4,704	8,929	21,141	24,506	16,969	234,924
Derivative financial liabilities:
Gross settled derivative outflows	(1,124)	(967)	(791)	(165)	(665)	(427)	(6,495)	(5,915)	(16,549)
Gross settled derivative inflows	1,101	928	771	142	621	387	6,146	5,605	15,701
Gross settled derivatives - net flows	(23)	(39)	(20)	(23)	(44)	(40)	(349)	(310)	(848)
Net settled derivative liabilities	(70)	(175)	(174)	(258)	(300)	(865)	(1,373)	(1,224)	(4,439)
Total derivative financial liabilities	(93)	(214)	(194)	(281)	(344)	(905)	(1,722)	(1,534)	(5,287)
Total financial liabilities	145,986	5,350	6,838	4,423	8,585	20,236	22,784	15,435	229,637
Off-balance sheet commitments (note iii)	11,416	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11,416
Total financial liabilities including off-balance sheet commitments	157,402	5,350	6,838	4,423	8,585	20,236	22,784	15,435	241,053

Gross contractual cash flows
2019	Due less than one month (note i)	Due between one and three months	Due between three and six months	Due between six and nine months	Due between nine and twelve months	Due between one and two years	Due between two and five years	Due after more than five years	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Shares	131,451	3,098	4,121	1,525	1,514	4,063	7,605	1,141	154,518
Deposits from banks and similar institutions	3,026	32	153	31	31	6,102	11,119	-	20,494
Other deposits	2,295	630	2,096	25	19	4	12	-	5,081
Secured funding - ABS and covered bonds	1,199	835	172	185	186	4,313	7,493	5,901	20,284
Senior unsecured funding	43	4,670	4,270	518	524	252	2,656	3,486	16,419
Subordinated liabilities	20	-	123	28	75	888	607	6,412	8,153
Subscribed capital (note ii)	1	1	4	3	4	13	68	217	311
Total non-derivative financial liabilities	138,035	9,266	10,939	2,315	2,353	15,635	29,560	17,157	225,260
Derivative financial liabilities:
Gross settled derivative outflows	(439)	(2,565)	(1,243)	(76)	(71)	(1,951)	(2,840)	(5,349)	(14,534)
Gross settled derivative inflows	427	2,485	1,185	58	45	1,783	2,595	5,086	13,664
Gross settled derivatives - net flows	(12)	(80)	(58)	(18)	(26)	(168)	(245)	(263)	(870)
Net settled derivative liabilities	(28)	(125)	(101)	(130)	(119)	(368)	(579)	(916)	(2,366)
Total derivative financial liabilities	(40)	(205)	(159)	(148)	(145)	(536)	(824)	(1,179)	(3,236)
Total financial liabilities	137,995	9,061	10,780	2,167	2,208	15,099	28,736	15,978	222,024
Off-balance sheet commitments (note iii)	12,956	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12,956
Total financial liabilities including off-balance sheet commitments	150,951	9,061	10,780	2,167	2,208	15,099	28,736	15,978	234,980

Notes:

i.  Due less than one month includes amounts repayable on demand.

ii.  The principal amount for undated subscribed capital is included within the due more than five years column.

iii. Off-balance sheet commitments include amounts payable on demand for undrawn loan commitments, customer overpayments on residential mortgages where the borrower is able to draw down the amount overpaid and commitments to acquire financial assets.

Asset encumbrance

Encumbrance arises where assets are pledged as collateral against secured funding and other collateralised obligations and therefore cannot be used for other purposes.   The majority of asset encumbrance arises from the use of prime mortgage pools to collateralise the Covered Bond and securitisation programmes (further information is included in note 10 to the consolidated financial statements) and from participation in the Bank of England's Term Funding Scheme (TFS). The increase in encumbrance as a result of securitisation reflects additional collateral added to the Group's Silverstone secured funding programme during the year to provide future funding capacity.

Certain unencumbered assets are readily available to secure funding or meet collateral requirements. These include prime mortgages and cash and securities held in the liquid asset buffer. Other unencumbered assets, such as non-prime mortgages, are capable of being encumbered with a degree of further management action. Assets which do not fall into either of these categories are classified as not being capable of being encumbered.

An analysis of Nationwide's encumbered and unencumbered on-balance sheet assets is set out below. This disclosure is not intended to identify assets that would be available in the event of a resolution or bankruptcy.

Asset encumbrance
2020	Assets encumbered as a result of transactions with counterparties other than central banks				Other assets (comprising assets encumbered at the central bank and unencumbered assets)					Total
	As a result of covered bonds	As a result of securitisations	Other	Total	Assets positioned at the central bank (i.e. prepositioned plus encumbered)	Assets not positioned at the central bank			Total
						Readily available for encumbrance	Other assets that are capable of being encumbered	Cannot be encumbered
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Cash	600	657	-	1,257	-	12,193	-	298	12,491	13,748
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	-	-	1,555	1,555	1,355	-	-	726	2,081	3,636
Investment securities	-	-	2,506	2,506	-	16,006	-	1,492	17,498	20,004
Derivative financial instruments	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4,771	4,771	4,771
Loans and advances to customers	28,003	15,177	-	43,180	42,217	65,687	49,894	-	157,798	200,978
Non-financial assets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3,130	3,130	3,130
Other financial assets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1,774	1,774	1,774
Total	28,603	15,834	4,061	48,498	43,572	93,886	49,894	12,191	199,543	248,041

2019	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Cash (note i)	590	660	-	1,250	-	10,999	-	244	11,243	12,493
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions	-	-	1,352	1,352	1,276	-	-	1,381	2,657	4,009
Investment securities	-	-	1,694	1,694	30	13,043	-	1,467	14,540	16,234
Derivative financial instruments	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3,562	3,562	3,562
Loans and advances to customers	22,656	6,936	-	29,592	39,558	82,561	47,340	-	169,459	199,051
Non-financial assets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2,541	2,541	2,541
Other financial assets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	411	411	411
Total	23,246	7,596	3,046	33,888	40,864	106,603	47,340	9,606	204,413	238,301

Note:

i.  The prior year comparative for cash not positioned at the central bank, readily available for encumbrance, has been restated by £140 million to £10,999 million. The £140 million was previously shown under assets positioned at the central bank (i.e. prepositioned plus encumbered) .

 

External credit ratings

The Group's long-term and short-term credit ratings are shown in the table below. The long-term rating for both Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Moody's is the senior preferred rating. The long-term rating for Fitch is the senior non-preferred rating.

Credit ratings
	Senior preferred	Short-term	Senior non-preferred	Tier 2	Date of last rating action / confirmation	Outlook
Standard & Poor's	A	A-1	BBB+	BBB	April 2020	Stable
Moody's	A1	P-1	Baa2	Baa2	April 2020	Negative
Fitch	A+	F-1	A	BBB+	April 2020	Negative

In April 2020 S&P revised Nationwide's outlook to stable from positive based on the economic impact of Covid-19 and affirmed the ratings 'A/A-1' long- and short-term issuer credit ratings (ICRs). This follows S&P's previous affirmation in January 2020 which took into account Nationwide's increase of loss-absorbing capacity, principally through senior non-preferred debt issuance. S&P therefore raised the additional loss-absorbing capacity (ALAC) uplift in the long-term issuer credit ratings to two notches from one. S&P offset the additional notch, however, by introducing a negative adjustment notch based on a rating comparison with global peers.

In April 2020, Moody's downgraded Nationwide's long-term rating from Aa3 to A1 citing their expectation that the decline in the Society's profitability in recent years is now unlikely to be reversed. Nationwide's short-term rating of P-1 was affirmed. The outlook remains on negative and reflects uncertainties embedded in Moody's forward-looking view on the loss given failure of the Society's senior debt.

In April 2020, Fitch revised the outlook on Nationwide's Long Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to negative, along with five other UK building societies and affirmed the IDRs. The rating actions reflected the economic and financial market fallout from the Covid-19 outbreak. Previously in March 2019, Fitch placed the IDR of Nationwide, along with eighteen other UK banking groups, on Ratings Watch Negative. The Ratings Watch Negative reflected the heightened uncertainty over the ultimate outcome of the Brexit process and the increased risk that a disruptive 'no-deal' Brexit could result in negative action on the UK banks, with the likelihood that negative outlooks will be assigned. Fitch reaffirmed this in September 2019. In December 2019, Fitch removed the Ratings Watch Negative and revised Nationwide's Outlook to Stable.

The table below sets out the amount of additional collateral Nationwide would need to provide in the event of a one and two notch downgrade by external credit rating agencies.

	Cumulative adjustment for a one notch downgrade	Cumulative adjustment for a two notch downgrade
	£bn	£bn
2020 (note i)	0.2	3.8
2019	3.0	3.4

Note:

i.  The impact of a one notch downgrade has reduced in 2020 as a result of contractual changes in secured funding programme agreements.

The contractually required cash outflow would not necessarily match the actual cash outflow as a result of management actions that could be taken to reduce the impact of the downgrades.

 

Solvency risk  

Solvency risk is the risk that Nationwide fails to maintain sufficient capital to absorb losses throughout a full economic cycle and sufficient to maintain the confidence of current and prospective investors, members, the Board and regulators. Capital is held to protect members, cover inherent risks, provide a buffer for stress events and support the business strategy. In assessing the adequacy of capital resources, risk appetite is considered in the context of the material risks to which Nationwide is exposed and the appropriate strategies required to manage those risks .

Capital position 

The capital disclosures included in this report are on a CRD IV end point basis with IFRS 9 transitional arrangements applied. This assumes that all CRD IV requirements are in force during the period, with no CRD IV transitional provisions permitted. In addition, the disclosures are on a consolidated Group basis, including all subsidiary entities, unless otherwise stated.

Capital ratios
	2020	2019
Solvency	%	%
Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio (note i)	31.9	32.2
Total Tier 1 ratio (note i)	33.7	35.2
Total regulatory capital ratio (note i)	43.6	44.3
Leverage	£m	£m
UK leverage exposure (note i,ii)	240,707	235,317
CRR leverage exposure (note i,iii)	254,388	247,757
Tier 1 capital	11,258	11,509
	%	%
UK leverage ratio	4.7	4.9
CRR leverage ratio	4.4	4.6

Notes:

i.  The figures for 4 April 2019 have been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increased total RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio. There is no change to the UK or CRR leverage ratio to 1 decimal place.

ii.  The UK leverage ratio is calculated using the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) definition of Tier 1 for the capital amount and the Delegated Act definition of the exposure measure, excluding eligible central bank reserves.

iii. The CRR leverage ratio is calculated using the CRR definition of Tier 1 for the capital amount and the Delegated Act definition of the exposure measure.

The CET1 ratio reduced to 31.9% (2019: 32.2%²²) primarily as a result of a £0.7 billion increase in risk weighted assets (RWAs). This was driven primarily by the application of the new securitisation framework per Regulation (EU) 2017/2401, which from 1 January 2020 was applicable to all securitisation positions. Securitisations that are yet to comply with the Simple, Transparent, and Standardised (STS) criteria, generally those issued prior to the introduction of the framework, incur a higher risk weight. In addition, there was an increase in the balance sheet value of fixed assets following the change to accounting for leases on adoption of IFRS 16. CET1 capital resources increased by £0.1 billion, due to profit after tax for the financial year of £0.4 billion, partially offset by distributions.

On 11 March 2020 the Bank of England made an announcement regarding its responses to the impacts of Covid-19. This included reducing the UK countercyclical buffer rate from 1% to 0%, which is intended to release capital to support the banks and building societies operating in the UK, to lend to individuals and businesses. This reduced Nationwide's CRD IV combined capital buffer requirement by 1% to 3.5% of RWAs.

Risk-based capital ratios remain in excess of regulatory requirements with the CET1 ratio of 31.9% (2019: 32.2%²²) above Nationwide's CET1 capital requirement of 12.3%. This includes a minimum CET1 capital requirement of 8.8% (Pillar 1 and Pillar 2A) and the CRD IV combined buffer requirements of 3.5% of RWAs.

The economic impacts relating to Covid-19 are also likely to lead to some RWA inflation and therefore a lower CET1 ratio in the short to medium term. However, based on the Bank of England's published stress testing results, Nationwide expects to maintain a surplus above the CRD IV combined buffer requirements and the threshold at which a maximum distributable amount would be imposed.

The CET1 ratio is expected to be impacted by future regulatory developments. The implementation of new IRB models is expected to cause an increase in RWAs which will lead to an estimated reduction in the CET1 ratio of approximately one third based on the current capital position. The implementation of these models has been delayed by the Bank of England by one year from January 2021 to January 2022, as part of its response to the impacts of Covid-19. It is expected that the CET1 ratio will be impacted further by the finalised Basel III reforms which come into effect progressively between 2023 and 2028. Further details are given in the regulatory developments section below.

CRD IV requires firms to calculate a non-risk-based leverage ratio, to supplement risk-based capital requirements. The UK leverage ratio of 4.7% (2019: 4.9%) remains in excess of Nationwide's capital requirement of 3.6%, which comprises a minimum Tier 1 capital requirement of 3.25% and buffer requirements of 0.35%. This reflects a 0% countercyclical leverage ratio buffer due to the impact of the Bank of England Covid-19 announcement noted above.

Nationwide's UK leverage ratio reduced to 4.7% (2019: 4.9%) with Tier 1 capital reducing by £0.2 billion, as a result of the net redemption of £0.4 billion of AT1 capital instruments. This was in conjunction with an increase in UK leverage exposure of £5.4 billion primarily as a result of net retail lending and treasury investments over the year. The CRR leverage ratio is based on the Delegated Act definition and therefore exposures include central bank reserves. This also reduced by 0.2%, closing at 4.4% (2019: 4.6%).

Leverage requirements continue to be Nationwide's binding capital constraint, as they are in excess of risk-based requirements, and it is expected that this will continue despite the impact of IRB model changes and Basel III reforms on risk-based capital requirements. The expected impact of the Basel III reforms on Nationwide's UK leverage ratio is negligible. The risk of excessive leverage is managed through regular monitoring and reporting of the leverage ratio, which forms part of risk appetite.

²² The figures for 4 April 2019 have been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures; this increased RWAs by 0.5%, leading to a reduction of 0.2% in the CET1 ratio. There is no change to the UK or CRR leverage ratio to 1 decimal point.

The table below reconciles the general reserves to total regulatory capital on an end-point basis and so does not include non-qualifying instruments.

Total regulatory capital
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
General reserve	10,749	10,418
Core capital deferred shares (CCDS)	1,325	1,325
Revaluation reserve	48	64
FVOCI reserve	(17 )	50
Regulatory adjustments and deductions:
Foreseeable distributions (note i)	(61)	(68)
Prudent valuation adjustment (note ii)	(54)	(50)
Own credit and debit valuation adjustments (note iii)	(3 )	-
Intangible assets (note iv)	(1,200)	(1,274)
Goodwill (note iv)	(12)	(12)
Defined-benefit pension fund assets (note iv)	(190)	-
Excess of regulatory expected losses over impairment provisions (note v)	-	(2)
IFRS 9 transitional arrangements (note vi)	80	66
Total regulatory adjustments and deductions	(1,440 )	(1,340)
Common Equity Tier 1 capital	10,665	10,517
Additional Tier 1 capital securities (AT1)	593	992
Total Tier 1 capital	11,258	11,509
Dated subordinated debt (notes vii)	3,265	2,976
Excess of impairment provisions over regulatory expected losses (note v)	113	46
IFRS9 transitional arrangements (note vi)	(58 )	(46)
Tier 2 capital	3,320	2,976
Total regulatory capital	14,578	14,485

Notes:

i.  Foreseeable distributions in respect of CCDS and AT1 securities are deducted from CET1 capital under CRD IV.

ii.  A prudent valuation adjustment (PVA) is applied in respect of fair valued instruments as required under regulatory capital rules.

iii. Own credit and debit valuation adjustments are applied to remove balance sheet gains or losses of fair valued liabilities and derivatives that result from changes in our own credit standing and risk, in accordance with CRD IV rules.

iv. Intangible, goodwill and defined-benefit pension fund assets are deducted from capital resources after netting associated deferred tax liabilities.

v.  Where capital expected loss exceeds accounting impairment provisions, the excess balance is removed from CET1 capital, gross of tax. In contrast, where impairment provisions exceed capital expected loss, the excess balance is added back to Tier 2 capital, gross of tax. This calculation is not performed for equity exposures, in line with Article 159 of CRR. The expected loss amounts for equity exposures are deducted from CET1 capital, gross of tax.

vi. The transitional adjustments to capital resources apply scaled relief for the impact of IFRS 9, over a five-year transition period.

vii. Subordinated debt includes fair value adjustments related to changes in market interest rates, adjustments for unamortised premiums and discounts that are included in the consolidated balance sheet, and any amortisation of the capital value of Tier 2 instruments required by regulatory rules for instruments with fewer than five years to maturity.

   

As part of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD), the Bank of England, in its capacity as the UK resolution authority, has published its policy for setting the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) and provided firms with indicative MREL. From 1 January 2020, Nationwide was subject to a requirement to hold twice the minimum capital requirements (6.5% of UK leverage exposure), plus the applicable capital requirement buffers, which amount to 0.35% of UK leverage exposure. In order to meet this requirement, Nationwide issued a further £1.6 billion of MREL eligible senior non-preferred notes during the year.

At 4 April 2020, total MREL resources were equal to 8.4% (2019: 7.8%²³) of UK leverage ratio exposure above the 2020 loss-absorbing requirement of 6.85% described above.

Risk weighted assets

The table below shows the breakdown of risk weighted assets (RWAs) by risk type and business activity. Market risk has been set to zero as permitted by the CRR, as the exposure is below the threshold of 2% of own funds.

Risk weighted assets
	2020			2019
	Credit Risk (note i)	Operational Risk (note ii)	Total Risk Weighted Assets	Credit Risk (note i)	Operational Risk (note ii)	Total Risk Weighted Assets
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Retail mortgages	14,498	3,145	17,643	14,072	3,393	17,465
Retail unsecured lending	6,029	887	6,916	5,581	778	6,359
Commercial loans	3,183	143	3,326	3,604	176	3,780
Treasury	1,541	304	1,845	779	152	931
Counterparty credit risk (note iii, iv)	1,619	-	1,619	1,708	-	1,708
Other (note v)	1,783	267	2,050	2,095	344	2,439
Total	28,653	4,746	33,399	27,839	4,843	32,682

Notes:

i.  This column includes credit risk exposures, securitisations, counterparty credit risk exposures and exposures below the thresholds for deduction that are subject to a 250% risk weight.

ii.  RWAs have been allocated according to the business lines within the standardised approach to operational risk, as per article 317 of CRR.

iii. Counterparty credit risk relates to derivative financial instruments, securities financing transactions and exposures to central counterparties.

iv. The figures for 4 April 2019 have been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures, increasing total RWAs by 0.5%.

v.  Other relates to equity, fixed and other assets.

RWAs increased by £0.7 billion, primarily due to the new securitisation framework which increased treasury credit risk RWAs. Retail mortgage credit risk RWAs also increased due to an increase in net mortgage balances.

²³ The figure for 4 April 2019 has been restated in respect of counterparty credit risk exposures, leading to a 0.1% reduction in MREL

Regulatory developments

Key areas of regulatory change are set out below. Nationwide will remain engaged in the development of the regulatory approach to ensure it is prepared for any change.

New residential mortgage IRB models have been submitted to the PRA for approval with the expectation that these models will be implemented by January 2022. This is in line with the revised deadline set by the Bank of England on 20 March 2020 which delays implementation by 1 year from the original January 2021 implementation date set out in PS13/17. The new models will also need to reflect the PRA's approach to implementing the European Banking Authority's (EBA's) recommendations relating to Probability of Default (PD) estimation, Loss Given Default (LGD) estimation and the treatment of defaulted exposures. This is as part of the IRB approach to credit risk as set out in PS 11/20. It is currently estimated that the impact of these models will reduce the reported CET1 ratio by approximately one third from the current level, given the material increase in risk weighted assets.

The Basel Committee published their final reforms to the Basel III framework in December 2017. The amendments include changes to the standardised approaches for credit and operational risks and the introduction of a new RWA output floor. The rules are subject to a lengthy revised transitional period from 2023 to 2028. These reforms will lead to a significant increase in the Group's risk weights over time. Nationwide currently expect the consequential impact on the reported CET1 ratio to ultimately be a reduction of approximately a half relative to the current capital position. The change relates to the application of standardised floors which override IRB model outputs. Organic earnings through the transition will mitigate this impact such that the reported CET1 ratio is expected to remain in excess of the pro forma levels implied by this change. These reforms represent a re-calibration of regulatory requirements with no underlying change in the capital resources held or the risk profile of assets. Final impacts are uncertain as they are subject to future balance sheet size and mix, and because the final detail of some elements of the regulatory changes remain at the PRA's discretion.

Since 4 April 2020, the European Commission has announced amendments to the treatment of IFRS9 transitional capital relief. This is intended to provide relief for an increase in provisions as a result of the economic impacts of Covid-19. This is expected to be implemented by 30 June 2020 and as such any impacts of this change will be captured within future capital disclosures.

Consolidated financial statements

Contents

	Page
Consolidated income statement	79
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income	80
Consolidated balance sheet	81
Consolidated statement of movements in members' interests and equity	82
Notes to the consolidated financial statements	83

 

Consolidated income statement

For the year ended 4 April 2020
		2020	2019 (note i)
	Notes	£m	£m
Interest receivable and similar income/(expense):
Calculated using the effective interest rate method	3	5,157	5,141
Other	3	(27)	(23)
Total interest receivable and similar income	3	5,130	5,118
Interest expense and similar charges	4	(2,320)	(2,203)
Net interest income		2,810	2,915
Fee and commission income		439	449
Fee and commission expense		(270)	(248)
Other operating income	5	67	54
(Losses)/gains from derivatives and hedge accounting	6	(7)	36
Total income		3,039	3,206
Administrative expenses	7	(2,312)	(2,254)
Impairment losses on loans and advances to customers	8	(209)	(113)
Provisions for liabilities and charges	12	(52)	(6)
Profit before tax		466	833
Taxation	9	(101)	(197)
Profit after tax		365	636

Note:

i.  Comparatives have been restated as detailed in note 2.

 

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

For the year ended 4 April 2020
		2020	2019 (note i)
		£m	£m
Profit after tax		365	636
Other comprehensive (expense)/income
Items that will not be reclassified to the income statement
Remeasurements of retirement benefit obligations:
Retirement benefit remeasurements before tax		195	210
Taxation		(76)	(57)
		119	153
Revaluation of property:
Revaluation before tax		(13)	(2)
Taxation		2	1
		(11)	(1)
		108	152
Items that may subsequently be reclassified to the income statement
Cash flow hedge reserve (note ii):
Fair value movements taken to members' interests and equity		56	540
Amount transferred to income statement		(65)	(100)
Taxation		(5)	(112)
		(14)	328
Other hedging reserve (note ii):
Fair value movements taken to members' interests and equity		(57)
Taxation		15
		(42)
Fair value through other comprehensive income reserve:
Fair value movements taken to members' interests and equity		(51)	12
Amount transferred to income statement		(40)	(28)
Taxation		24	4
		(67)	(12)
Other comprehensive (expense)/income		(15)	468
Total comprehensive income		350	1,104

Notes:

i.  Comparatives have been restated as detailed in note 2.

ii.  The Group adopted IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' - Hedge Accounting from 5 April 2019; this resulted in the creation of a new other hedging reserve and the discontinuance of certain cash flow hedging relationships. Further information is included in note 2.

Consolidated balance sheet

At 4 April 2020
		2020	2019
	Notes	£m	£m
Assets
Cash		13,748	12,493
Loans and advances to banks and similar institutions		3,636	4,009
Investment securities		20,004	16,234
Derivative financial instruments		4,771	3,562
Fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk		1,774	411
Loans and advances to customers	10	200,978	199,051
Intangible assets		1,239	1,324
Property, plant and equipment		1,172	889
Accrued income and prepaid expenses		205	184
Deferred tax		76	53
Current tax assets		65	-
Other assets		79	91
Retirement benefit assets	14	294	-
Total assets		248,041	238,301
Liabilities
Shares		159,691	153,969
Deposits from banks and similar institutions		21,812	20,149
Other deposits		4,482	5,074
Fair value adjustment for portfolio hedged risk		29	(17)
Debt securities in issue		35,963	35,942
Derivative financial instruments		1,924	1,593
Other liabilities		915	583
Provisions for liabilities and charges	12	176	199
Accruals and deferred income		310	346
Subordinated liabilities	11	9,317	6,706
Subscribed capital	11	253	250
Deferred tax		207	144
Current tax liabilities		-	89
Retirement benefit obligations	14	-	105
Total liabilities		235,079	225,132
Members' interests and equity
Core capital deferred shares	15	1,325	1,325
Other equity instruments	16	593	992
General reserve		10,749	10,418
Revaluation reserve		48	64
Cash flow hedge reserve		306	320
Other hedging reserve (note i)		(42)
Fair value through other comprehensive income reserve		(17)	50
Total members' interests and equity		12,962	13,169
Total members' interests, equity and liabilities		248,041	238,301

Note: 

i.  The Group adopted IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' - Hedge Accounting from 5 April 2019; this resulted in the creation of a new other hedging reserve. Further information is included in note 2.

Consolidated statement of movements in members' interests and equity

For the year ended 4 April 2020
	Core capital deferred shares	Other equity instruments	General reserve	Revaluation reserve	Cash flow hedge reserve	Other hedging reserve (note i)	FVOCI reserve	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 5 April 2019	1,325	992	10,418	64	320	-	50	13,169
Profit for the year	-	-	365	-	-	-	-	365
Net remeasurements of retirement benefit obligations	-	-	119	-	-	-	-	119
Net revaluation of property	-	-	-	(11)	-	-	-	(11)
Net movement in cash flow hedge reserve	-	-	-	-	(14)	-	-	(14)
Net movement in other hedging reserve	-	-	-	-	-	(42)	-	(42)
Net movement in FVOCI reserve	-	-	-	-	-	-	(67)	(67)
Total comprehensive income	-	-	484	(11)	(14)	(42)	(67)	350
Reserve transfer	-	-	5	(5)	-	-	-	-
Issuance of Additional Tier 1 capital	-	593	-	-	-	-	-	593
Redemption of Additional Tier 1 capital	-	(992)	(8)	-	-	-	-	(1,000)
Distribution to the holders of core capital deferred shares	-	-	(108)	-	-	-	-	(108)
Distribution to the holders of Additional Tier 1 capital	-	-	(42)	-	-	-	-	(42)
At 4 April 2020	1,325	593	10,749	48	306	(42)	(17)	12,962

For the year ended 4 April 2019
	Core capital deferred shares	Other equity instruments	General reserve	Revaluation reserve	Cash flow hedge reserve	Other hedging reserve (note i)	FVOCI reserve	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 5 April 2018	1,325	992	9,802	68	(8)		62	12,241
Profit for the year	-	-	636	-	-		-	636
Net remeasurements of retirement benefit obligations	-	-	153	-	-		-	153
Net revaluation of property	-	-	-	(1)	-		-	(1)
Net movement in cash flow hedge reserve	-	-	-	-	328		-	328
Net movement in FVOCI reserve	-	-	-	-	-		(12)	(12)
Total comprehensive income	-	-	789	(1)	328		(12)	1,104
Reserve transfer	-	-	3	(3)	-		-	-
Distribution to the holders of core capital deferred shares	-	-	(108)	-	-		-	(108)
Distribution to the holders of Additional Tier 1 capital (note ii)	-	-	(68)	-	-		-	(68)
At 4 April 2019	1,325	992	10,418	64	320		50	13,169

Notes:

i.  The Group adopted IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' - Hedge Accounting from 5 April 2019; this resulted in the creation of a new other hedging reserve. Further information is included in note 2.

ii.  Comparatives have been restated as detailed in note 2.

 

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

1. Reporting period

These results have been prepared as at 4 April 2020 and show the financial performance for the year from, and including, 5 April 2019 to this date.

2. Basis of preparation

These consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and interpretations issued by the IFRS Interpretations Committee of the IASB, as adopted by the European Union. These consolidated financial statements have also been prepared in accordance with those parts of the Building Societies (Accounts and Related Provisions) Regulations 1998 (as amended) applicable to organisations reporting under IFRS.

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of investment properties, branches and non-specialised buildings, financial assets measured at fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI), and derivatives and certain other financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value through profit and loss (FVTPL). As stated in the Directors' report, the directors consider that it is appropriate to continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts.

A summary of the Group's accounting policies is set out below. The accounting policies have been consistently applied, except for changes arising from adoption of new and revised IFRSs and certain voluntary changes in accounting policy, as described below.

Further information about judgements in applying accounting policies and critical accounting estimates is provided in note 2.

Adoption of new and revised IFRSs

The Group has adopted the following standards with effect from 5 April 2019:

· IFRS 16 'Leases'

· IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments' - Hedge Accounting.

Further information on the impacts of adopting these new standards is set out below.

 

In addition, a number of amendments and improvements to accounting standards have been issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) with an effective date of 1 January 2019. Those relevant to these consolidated financial statements include minor amendments to IAS 12 'Income Taxes', IAS 19 'Employee Benefits', and IFRS 9 'Financial Instruments'. IFRIC 23 'Uncertainty over Income Tax Treatments' also became effective from 1 January 2019. The adoption of these amendments and interpretations had no significant impact on the Group, except for the amendment to IAS 12 which is set out further below.

Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39 and IFRS 7 were also issued in September 2019 which modified specific hedge accounting requirements so that entities apply those hedge accounting requirements assuming that the interest rate benchmark on which the hedged cash flows and cash flows of the hedging instrument are based is not altered as a result of interest rate benchmark reform. These amendments are applicable to the Group from 5 April 2020 with early adoption permitted. The Group has adopted the applicable amendments from 5 April 2019.

IFRS 16 'Leases'

The Group has adopted the requirements of IFRS 16 from 5 April 2019. For lessee accounting there is no longer a distinction between operating and finance leases. Lessees capitalise leases through the recognition of assets representing the contractual rights of use and recognise a lease liability for the present value of contractual payments.

The Group has adopted IFRS 16 using the modified retrospective approach, under which the cumulative effect of initial application is recognised in retained earnings at 5 April 2019. Comparative figures for the prior year have therefore not been restated.

At transition, lease liabilities were measured at the present value of the remaining lease payments, discounted at the Group's incremental borrowing rate which was 2.8% as at 5 April 2019. The consolidated balance sheet increases as a result of recognition of the lease liabilities and right-of-use assets as of 5 April 2019 were £192 million and £181 million respectively, with no adjustment to retained earnings. The difference between the right-of-use assets and lease liabilities recognised on transition is due to £6 million of existing prepayments, £14 million of accruals and £2 million of onerous lease provisions recognised under IAS 17 'Leases' as at 5 April 2019 being included in the measurement of the right-of-use assets. The assets are presented in property, plant and equipment and the liabilities are presented in other liabilities.

The recognition of lease liabilities totalling £192 million upon adoption of IFRS 16 exceeds the total operating lease commitments disclosed under IAS 17 as at 4 April 2019 of £189 million. Lease liabilities recognised on the consolidated balance sheet include reasonably certain extensions to the lease term, whereas the disclosure of operating lease commitments included payments only to the point of contractual break clauses. This increase was almost entirely offset by the impact of discounting, as lease liabilities are recognised on the consolidated balance sheet at their present value and the previous IAS 17 disclosure was made on an undiscounted basis.

The Group has taken advantage of the following practical expedients upon transition:

· Relied upon the previous assessment under IAS 17 and IFRIC 4 as to whether contracts entered into prior to the date of adoption represented a lease.

· Applied a single discount rate to a portfolio of leases with similar characteristics.

· Adjusted the right-of-use assets by the amount of IAS 37 onerous contract provision immediately before the date of adoption as an alternative to an impairment review.

· Applied the exemption not to recognise right-of-use assets and liabilities for leases with less than 12 months of remaining lease term.

· Excluded initial direct costs from measuring the right-of use asset at adoption.

· Used hindsight when determining the lease term if the contract contains options to extend or terminate the lease.

IFRS 9 'Financial instruments' - Hedge Accounting

The transition requirements of IFRS 9 include an option to continue to apply the existing hedge accounting requirements of IAS 39 until the development of a separate standard on accounting for dynamic risk management (macro hedge accounting). In its consolidated financial statements for the year ended 4 April 2019, the Group continued to apply IAS 39. From 5 April 2019 the Group voluntarily adopted the micro hedge accounting provisions of IFRS 9 on a prospective basis and continues to apply IAS 39 fair value hedge accounting for portfolio hedges of interest rate risk (macro hedge accounting).

The changes resulting from adoption of the hedge accounting provisions of IFRS 9 for micro hedges, which are applicable to the Group, include:

· The ability to choose to exclude currency basis spreads from hedge designation and instead report this element of fair valuation directly in a hedge reserve within equity.

· The performance of hedge effectiveness testing on a prospective basis only, in line with risk management strategy.

· The inability to voluntarily de-designate hedging relationships, unless there has been a change to risk management objectives.

 

Adoption, which did not have a significant impact for the Group, has resulted in the creation of an 'other hedging reserve' within equity to include the impact of foreign currency basis spreads. Comparatives have not been restated.

Effective 5 April 2019, and concurrent with the adoption of the micro hedge accounting provisions of IFRS 9, the Group discontinued a number of cash flow hedge relationships, resulting in reduced activity in the cash flow hedge reserve. The Group immediately replaced these hedges with a number of new fair value hedge accounting relationships. The Group chose to exclude foreign currency basis spreads from the new hedges and instead reports the change in fair value of these spreads directly in the 'other hedging reserve'. The value of this reserve at 4 April 2020 was a cumulative loss of £42 million.

Amendment to IAS 12 'Income Taxes'

The amendment to IAS 12 clarifies that an entity should recognise the tax consequences of dividends where the transactions or events that generated the distributable profits are recognised. As a result of its application, the income tax consequences of distributions on Additional Tier 1 instruments are presented in the consolidated income statement rather than directly in members' interests and equity. Comparative information has been restated as shown below.

Consolidated income statement and consolidated statement of comprehensive income extract for the year ended 4 April 2019
	Previously published	Adjustment	Restated
	£m	£m	£m
Taxation	(215)	18	(197)
Profit after tax	618	18	636

Consolidated statement of movement in members' interests and equity extract for the year ended 4 April 2019
	Previously published	Adjustment	Restated
	£m	£m	£m
Profit after tax	618	18	636
Distribution to the holders of Additional Tier 1 capital	(50)	(18)	(68)

For the year ended 4 April 2020, adoption of this amendment resulted in reducing the taxation charge and increasing profit after tax by £13 million. This change has had no impact on net assets or members' interests and equity.

Future accounting developments

The IASB has issued a number of minor amendments to IFRSs that are effective from 1 January 2020, some of which have been endorsed for use in the EU. These amendments are not expected to have a significant impact for the Group.

IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts' establishes the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of insurance contracts within the scope of the standard. IFRS 17 is effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2021 and has not yet been endorsed for use by the EU. The requirements of IFRS 17 are currently being assessed; however, it is not expected that the new standard will have a significant impact for the Group.

Judgements in applying accounting policies and critical accounting estimates

The preparation of the Group's consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS involves management making judgements and estimates when applying those accounting policies that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expense. Actual results may differ from those on which management's estimates are based. Estimates and assumptions are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable. For the year ended 4 April 2020, this evaluation has considered the potential impacts of Covid-19.

The most significant sources of estimation uncertainty made by management in applying the Group's accounting policies, which are deemed critical to the Group's results and financial position, are disclosed in the following notes, including any additional information relating to Covid-19 where relevant. These accounting estimates include areas of significant judgement.

Area with significant judgements or estimates	Note
Impairment losses and provisions on loans and advances to customers	8
Provisions for customer redress	12
Retirement benefit obligations (pensions)	14

 

Going concern

The Directors have assessed the Group's ability to continue as a going concern. The Directors confirm they are satisfied that the Group has adequate resources to continue in business for the foreseeable future and that therefore, it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing this preliminary financial information.

3. Interest receivable and similar income

	2020	2019
	£m	£m
On financial assets measured at amortised cost:
Residential mortgages	4,553	4,469
Other loans	655	656
Other liquid assets	152	137
Investment securities	27	27
On investment securities measured at FVOCI	172	167
On financial instruments hedging assets in a qualifying hedge accounting relationship	(402)	(315)
Total interest receivable and similar income calculated using the effective interest rate method	5,157	5,141
Interest on net defined benefit pension asset (note 14)	3	-
Other interest and similar expense (note i)	(30)	(23)
Total	5,130	5,118

Note:

i.  Includes interest on financial instruments hedging assets that are not in a qualifying hedge accounting relationship.

4. Interest expense and similar charges

	2020	2019
	£m	£m
On shares held by individuals	1,361	1,335
On subscribed capital	14	14
On deposits and other borrowings:
Subordinated liabilities	309	238
Connected undertakings	-	-
Other	240	207
On debt securities in issue	745	673
Net income on financial instruments hedging liabilities	(349)	(270)
Interest on net defined benefit pension liability (note 14)	-	6
Total	2,320	2,203

5. Other operating income

	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Gains on financial assets measured at FVTPL	17	23
Gains on disposal of FVOCI investment securities	40	27
Other income	10	4
Total	67	54

Other income includes gains in relation to contingent consideration received on previous investment disposals, the net amount of rental income, profits or losses on the sale of property, plant and equipment and increases or decreases in the valuations of branches and non-specialised buildings which are not recognised in other comprehensive income. There were no gains or losses on disposal of financial assets measured at amortised cost in the year ended 4 April 2020 (2019: £nil).

6. Losses/gains from derivatives and hedge accounting

As a part of its risk management strategy, the Group uses derivatives to economically hedge financial assets and liabilities. More information on how the Group manages market risk can be found in the Risk report. Hedge accounting is employed by the Group to minimise the accounting volatility associated with the change in fair value of derivative financial instruments. This volatility does not reflect the economic reality of the Group's hedging strategy. The Group only uses derivatives for the hedging of risks; however, income statement volatility can still arise due to hedge accounting ineffectiveness or because hedge accounting is either not applied or is not currently achievable. The overall impact of derivatives will remain volatile from period to period as new derivative transactions replace those which mature to ensure that interest rate and other market risks are continually managed.

Effective 5 April 2019, and concurrent with the adoption of the micro hedge accounting provisions of IFRS 9, the Group discontinued a number of cash flow hedge relationships and immediately replaced these hedges with a number of new fair value hedge accounting relationships.

	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Gains from fair value hedge accounting	61	24
(Losses)/gains from cash flow hedge accounting	(2)	23
Fair value (losses)/gains from other derivatives (note i)	(74)	(18)
Foreign exchange retranslation (note ii)	8	7
Total	(7)	36

Notes:

i.  This category includes derivatives used for economic hedging purposes, but which are not currently in a hedge accounting relationship, as well as valuation adjustments which are applied at a portfolio level and so are not allocated to individual hedge accounting relationships.

ii.  Gains or losses arise from the retranslation of foreign currency monetary items not subject to effective hedge accounting.

Gains of £61 million (2019: £24 million) from fair value hedge accounting include gains of £53 million (2019: losses of £9 million) from macro hedges, due to hedge ineffectiveness and the amortisation of existing balance sheet amounts, and gains of £8 million (2019: £33 million) relating to micro hedges which arise due to a combination of hedge ineffectiveness, disposals and restructuring, and the amortisation of existing balance sheet amounts. Losses of £74 million (2019: £18 million) from other derivatives include a loss of £51 million (2019: £3 million) from adverse movements in bid-offer spreads, the majority of which occurred in the more volatile financial markets observed at the end of the financial year. There were also losses of £18 million (2019: £8 million) on swaps economically hedging the pipeline of new mortgage business.

7. Administrative expenses

		2020	2019
	Notes	£m	£m
Employee costs:
Wages and salaries		561	525
Bonuses		21	55
Social security costs		65	65
Pension costs (note i)		15	181
		662	826
Other administrative expenses (note i):		929	836
Bank levy	12	55	43
		1,646	1,705
Depreciation, amortisation and impairment		666	549
Total		2,312	2,254

Note:

i.  In the year ended 4 April 2020, pension costs include a gain of £164 million and other administrative expenses include an expense of £60 million relating to the closure of the Nationwide Pension Fund to future accrual from 31 March 2021. Further information is included in note 14.

8. Impairment losses and provisions on loans and advances to customers

The following tables set out impairment losses and reversals during the year and the closing provision balances which are deducted from the relevant asset values in the consolidated balance sheet:

Impairment losses/(reversals)
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Prime residential	13	(1)
Specialist residential	40	(16)
Consumer banking	159	114
Commercial and other lending	(3)	16
Total	209	113

Impairment provisions
	4 April 2020	4 April 2019
	£m	£m
Prime residential	56	44
Specialist residential	196	162
Consumer banking	494	418
Commercial and other lending	40	41
Total	786	665

 

The values in the tables above include an additional provision to reflect the estimated impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on expected credit losses (ECLs) of £101 million. Additional detail on the calculation of this value is included in the 'Impact on expected credit losses of Covid-19' section below.

Provisions are based on a probability-weighted application of multiple economic scenarios (MES). The impact of applying MES is to increase provisions by £123 million (2019: £133 million), compared with provisions based on the new central economic scenario. Further information is set out in the 'Use of forward-looking information' section below.

Critical accounting estimates and judgements

Impairment is measured as the impact of credit risk on the present value of management's estimate of future cash flows. In determining the required level of impairment provisions, the Group uses outputs from statistical models, incorporating a number of estimates and judgements to determine the Probability of Default (PD), the Exposure at Default, and the Loss Given Default (LGD) for each loan.

The most significant areas of estimation uncertainty are:

· the impact on expected credit losses of Covid-19

· the use of forward-looking information

· the performance of interest only mortgages at maturity

· the level of future recoveries for consumer banking

The most significant area of judgement is:

· the approach to identifying significant increases in credit risk and impairment (and therefore transfers between IFRS 9 stages)

The Group's approach to each of these estimates and judgements is described in more detail below. The allowance for the severe downside economic scenario and the impact of Covid-19 are both calculated as additional provisions. In both cases therefore, the Group has considered the consequences of changes to staging in quantifying the additional provision, but has not reflected these changes in the reported staging outcomes and analyses in the Credit risk section of the Risk report.

Impact on expected credit losses of Covid-19

An additional provision for credit losses has been recognised in the consolidated financial statements to reflect the estimated impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ECLs. Due to the limited observable data available at the reporting date, this additional provision is subject to significant levels of estimation. The analysis and estimates set out below were all subject to full internal governance at management and Board committee level. The additional provision at 4 April 2020 is £101 million.

A revised Covid-19 central economic scenario has been modelled to estimate additional losses in the residential mortgage, consumer banking and commercial portfolios (the impact on expected losses within the treasury portfolio is immaterial). This scenario takes into account the significant impact of the pandemic and also the government support measures announced in advance of the year end. Further information regarding the assumptions for, and ECL associated with, this scenario is included in the forward-looking economic information section below. As a result of the pandemic, probability weights for the central and upside scenarios were also changed with the upside scenario now allocated a 5% weighting (30 September 2019: 15%, 4 April 2019: 20%) and the central scenario allocated a weighting of 50% (30 September 19: 40%, 4 April 2019: 50%).

Retail lending

The estimation of losses relating to Covid-19 was performed using the latest IFRS 9 models and data, and has been recognised as an additional provision. Together, the revised scenario and probability weightings increased reported provisions by £55 million for retail lending.

In addition, the Group has estimated the credit losses associated with payment holidays granted to borrowers as a result of Covid-19, recognising that in some cases borrowers will experience longer term financial difficulty as a result of the pandemic. Payment holidays or other similar concessions have been offered on all retail products. Unlike other concessions granted to borrowers in financial difficulty, these payment holidays have not been subject to detailed affordability assessments, and therefore the level of financial difficulty of the members and customers who apply for them requires estimation in a number of areas.

Analysis of the risk characteristics of the payment holiday population was carried out to estimate the proportion of these loans judged to have increased credit risk. This proportion varies between 20% and 30% of the highest risk loans (measured by PD) by product. For these loans the modelled PD was then uplifted by a multiple of 2.5 or 3.0, based on experience of the performance of lending with similar concessions granted following the previous financial crisis (where available) or on more recent performance of other types of forbearance. The increase in expected credit loss includes the impact of loans transferring to stage 2 as a result of the higher PD, as well as the impact of the PD increase itself. The increase in reported provisions to reflect the risk associated with borrowers who requested payment holidays as a result of Covid-19 is £39 million.

A 10% change in the number of payment holidays would increase/decrease the additional provision by £4 million. Inclusion of a further 10% of the higher risk loans with payment holidays would increase provisions by £5 million. If the payment holiday PDs were uplifted by a multiple of 3.0 or 3.5 rather than 2.5 or 3.0 respectively, the increase in provisions would be £12 million.

The analysis of portfolios by stage in the Credit risk section of the Risk report has not been updated to include this revised staging for loans with payment holidays. If the staging was updated to reflect the staging of balances as used in the calculation of the additional provision, reflecting the PD uplift, the proportion of balances in stage 2 would be increased as shown below:

Proportion of total gross balance in stage 2 at 4 April 2020
2020	As reported %	If PD uplifts applied %
Prime mortgages	1.3	1.9
Specialist mortgages	20.3	20.6
Personal loans	9.8	10.5
Credit cards	26.2	26.3

Commercial lending

Similar analysis was carried out for the commercial lending portfolio. Revised modelling of the alternative economic scenario together with evaluation of a small number of higher risk and impaired loans increased provisions by £7 million.

Use of forward-looking economic information

Management exercises judgement in estimating future economic conditions which are incorporated into provisions through modelling of multiple scenarios. The economic scenarios are reviewed and updated on a quarterly basis. The provision recognised is the probability-weighted sum of the provisions calculated under a range of economic scenarios. The scenarios and associated probability weights are derived using external data and statistical methodologies, together with management judgement, to determine scenarios which span an appropriately wide range of plausible economic conditions. The Group continues to model four economic scenarios, which together encompass an appropriate range of potential economic outcomes. As noted above, the scenario assumptions were changed at year end to reflect the impact of Covid-19 through an additional provision. The tables below therefore show the revised Covid-19 central scenario economic assumptions used in determining this additional provision, as well as the previous central scenario.

At 4 April 2020, the probability weightings for each scenario were reviewed and the probabilities allocated to the upside and downside scenarios were revised due to the impact of Covid-19, as noted above. Changes made to probability weightings applied to the scenarios over the year are shown in the table below:

Scenario probability weighting (%)
	Upside scenario	Previous central scenario	Covid-19 central scenario	Downside scenario	Severe downside scenario
4 April 2020	5	0	50	35	10
30 September 2019	15	40		35	10
4 April 2019	20	50		20	10

The impact of the severe downside scenario is calculated as an additional provision separately from the other three scenarios, using information from internal stress testing models to estimate the non-linear impacts that could arise from severe scenarios.

In the Covid-19 scenario, both GDP and house prices fall sharply during 2020, and unemployment rises significantly, though less than if government measures had not been in place. Economic recovery takes place from early 2021, reverting to longer term trends by 2024, reflecting an assumption that the pandemic impact will be severe but temporary. The downside scenario reflects a weak economy during 2020 and 2021, accompanied by a fall in house prices during this period, followed by gradual recovery in subsequent years and reversion to a lower long-term growth rate by 2029. The upside scenario reflects stable economic growth over the projection period. The severe downside scenario continues to be aligned with internal stress testing and reflects a severe non-linear impact arising from disruption to the UK economy. Whilst the Covid-19 scenario shows a severe but temporary decline in the key economic variables over the first 12 months, the key variables of house price index (HPI) and unemployment are less severe than the downside and severe downside scenarios from 2022 onwards, due to an assumed recovery from 2021.

The tables below provide a summary of the values of the key UK economic variables used within the economic scenarios over the first five years of the scenario :

Economic variables (five-year average)
	GDP growth	HPI	Unemployment	BoE base rate
2020	%	%	%	%
Upside scenario	2.2	4.8	3.7	1.7
Previous central scenario	1.6	2.9	4.0	1.0
Covid-19 central scenario	0.8	0.6	5.3	0.1
Downside scenario	0.6	(1.8)	5.4	0.2
Severe downside scenario	(0.1)	(5.3)	8.0	3.5
2019	%	%	%	%
Upside scenario	2.3	5.0	3.8	2.2
Central scenario	1.8	2.4	4.3	1.1
Downside scenario	1.0	(2.4)	5.5	0.1
Severe downside scenario	(0.1)	(5.2)	8.3	3.5

Economic variables (from reporting date to peak/trough)
	GDP growth (note i)	HPI (note i)	Unemployment (note ii)	BoE base rate (note ii)
2020	%	%	%	%
Upside scenario	12.3	27.9	3.5	2.75
Previous central scenario	8.9	16.4	4.1	1.50
Covid-19 central scenario	(9.6)	(13.8)	7.4	0.10
Downside scenario	(1.2)	(10.7)	6.0	0.10
Severe downside scenario	(4.7)	(32.9)	9.2	4.0
2019	%	%	%	%
Upside scenario	12.5	27.9	3.6	3.50
Central scenario	9.5	13.9	3.9	1.75
Downside scenario	5.6	(12.0)	6.3	0.75
Severe downside scenario	(4.7)	(32.3)	9.5	4.00

Notes:

i.  GDP growth and HPI are shown as the largest cumulative growth/fall from 4 April 2020 over the forecast period.

ii. Unemployment and BoE base rate are shown as the highest/lowest rate over the forecast period.

 

Economic variables (average annual rate in the 12 months to March)
	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
	%	%	%	%	%
GDP growth
Upside scenario	1.8	2.3	2.6	2.3	2.4
Previous central scenario	1.3	1.5	1.8	1.9	2.0
Covid-19 central scenario	(8.8)	4.2	4.8	2.1	1.9
Downside scenario	0.5	(1.4)	0.6	1.7	1.8
Severe downside scenario	(2.1)	(1.6)	1.2	1.0	1.0
HPI
Upside scenario	5.0	5.5	5.7	4.1	4.2
Previous central scenario	2.5	3.0	3.0	3.5	3.6
Covid-19 central scenario	(13.0)	6.0	3.5	3.5	3.5
Downside scenario	(2.5)	(5.0)	(1.5)	0.5	1.6
Severe downside scenario	(11.1)	(16.4)	(8.9)	5.5	5.7
Unemployment
Upside scenario	3.8	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.5
Previous central scenario	4.0	4.1	4.0	4.0	3.9
Covid-19 central scenario	6.9	5.6	4.9	4.7	4.6
Downside scenario	4.3	5.5	6.0	5.9	5.7
Severe downside scenario	6.4	9.2	8.8	8.2	7.5

To give an indication of the sensitivity of ECLs to different economic scenarios, the table below shows the ECL if 100% weighting is applied to each scenario:

Sensitivity analysis impact of multiple economic scenarios
	ECL
	Upside scenario	Previous central scenario	Covid-19 central scenario	Downside scenario	Severe downside scenario
2020	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Residential mortgages	136	118	149	254	674
Consumer banking	432	410	438	466	736
Commercial and other lending	37	30	37	40	55
Total	605	558	624	760	1,465
2019	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Residential mortgages	99	112	n/a	242	714
Consumer banking	381	383	n/a	400	684
Commercial and other lending	37	37	n/a	37	80
Total	517	532	n/a	679	1,478

 

The increase in ECLs by applying the new Covid-19 scenario (weighted at 100%) instead of the previous central scenario is £66 million. In estimating ECLs under the upside and downside scenarios above it is assumed that the economic impact of the pandemic has a similar impact on ECLs as in the central scenario. Therefore, when probability weights are applied across the scenarios, the provision impact of the Covid-19 economic assumptions is 90% of £66 million, the 90% representing the total weightings of the upside, central and downside scenarios. The table does not include the additional provision calculated for the impact of payment holidays granted due to Covid-19.

The ECL for each scenario multiplied by the scenario probability will not reconcile to the overall provision. Whilst the stage allocation of loans varies in each individual scenario, each loan is allocated to a single stage in the overall provision calculation; this is based on a weighted average PD which takes into account the economic scenarios. A probability weighted 12 month or lifetime ECL (which takes into account the economic scenarios) is then calculated based on the stage allocation. 

The economic scenarios used reflect the Group's view of the range of potential future economic conditions at the balance sheet date. The impact of increasing/reducing the probability of a severe economic downside by 5% (and reducing/increasing the downside by a corresponding 5%) is an increase/reduction in provisions of £38 million.

For prime and specialist residential mortgages, the estimate of future HPI movements is a key assumption in estimating the eventual loss. The table below shows the sensitivity of provisions, in the Covid-19 central scenario only, to a decrease/increase in LGD as a result of an immediate decrease/increase in house prices, with no change to subsequent house price inflation or to other assumptions. As this is single-factor sensitivity analysis, it should not be extrapolated due to the likely non-linear effect:

Residential mortgages change in key assumptions
2020	Increase/(decrease) in provision
	£m
10% decrease in HPI	43
10% increase in HPI	(28)

Performance of interest only mortgages at maturity

An additional key area of management estimation is the allowance for the risk that a proportion of interest only mortgages will not be redeemed at their contractual maturity date, because a borrower does not have a means of capital repayment or has been unable to refinance the loan. Buy to let mortgages are typically advanced on an interest only basis. Interest only balances for prime residential mortgages relate primarily to historical balances which were originally advanced as interest only mortgages or where a change in terms to an interest only basis has been agreed. The impact of the allowance for unredeemed interest only mortgages at contractual maturity in the Covid-19 central scenario amounts to £44 million (2019: £47 million), and has also been calculated for the other modelled scenarios, with an additional impact of £28 million (2019: £24 million) included in the impact of forward looking economic information above. Interest only loans which are judged to have a significantly increased risk of inability to refinance at maturity are transferred to stage 2.

Consumer banking future recoveries

For consumer banking, the estimate of future recoveries is a key source of estimation uncertainty. The Group uses a combination of both historical data and management judgement in estimating the level and timing of future recoveries. If the rate of future recoveries was reduced in absolute terms by 10%, provisions would increase by £48 million.

Identifying significant increases in credit risk (stage 2)

Loans are allocated to stage 1 or stage 2 according to whether there has been a significant increase in credit risk. The Group has used judgement to select both quantitative and qualitative criteria which are used to determine whether a significant increase in credit risk has taken place. The primary quantitative indicators are the outputs of internal credit risk assessments. While different approaches are used within each portfolio, the intention is to combine current and historical data relating to the exposure with forward-looking macroeconomic information to determine the probability of default (PD) at each reporting date. For retail loans, the main indicators of a significant increase in credit risk are either of the following:

· the residual lifetime PD exceeds a benchmark determined by reference to the maximum credit risk that would have been accepted at origination

· the residual lifetime PD has increased by at least 75bps and a 4x multiple of the original lifetime PD.

These complementary criteria have been reviewed through detailed back-testing, using management performance indicators and actual default experience, and found to be effective in capturing events which would constitute a significant increase in credit risk. The sensitivity of ECLs to stage allocation is such that a transfer of 1% of current stage 1 balances to stage 2 would increase provisions by £8 million for residential mortgages, and £5 million for consumer banking.

Identifying credit impaired loans (stage 3)

The identification of credit impaired loans is an important judgement within the IFRS 9 staging approach. A loan is credit impaired where it has an arrears status of more than 90 days past due, is considered to be in default or it is considered unlikely that the borrower will repay the outstanding balance in full, without recourse to actions such as realising security.
 

9. Taxation

Tax charge in the income statement
		2020		2019 (note i)
	£m		£m
Current tax:
UK corporation tax	168		126
Adjustments in respect of prior years	(4)		(12)
Total current tax	164		114
Deferred tax:
Current year (credit)/charge	(48)		50
Adjustments in respect of prior years	2		9
Effect of deferred tax provided at different tax rates	(17)		24
Total deferred taxation	(63)		83
Tax charge	101		197

Note:

i.  Comparatives have been restated to reduce the tax charge for the effects of distributions to the holders of Additional Tier 1 capital, as detailed in note 2. In addition, £65 million has been reclassified between current and deferred taxation, related to cash flow hedging, with no impact on the total tax charge previously reported.

The actual tax charge differs from the theoretical amount that would arise using the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK as follows:

Reconciliation of tax charge
		2020		2019 (note i)
	£m		£m
Profit before tax:	466		833
Tax calculated at a tax rate of 19%	89		158
Adjustments in respect of prior years	(2)		(3)
Tax credit on distribution to the holders of Additional Tier 1 capital (note i)	(9)		(13)
Banking surcharge (note i)	24		32
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes/(income not taxable):
Depreciation on non-qualifying assets	3		3
Bank levy	11		8
Customer redress	4		8
Other	(2)		1
Effect of deferred tax provided at different tax rates	(17)		3
Tax charge	101		197

Note:

i.  Comparatives have been restated as set out in note 2 to reduce the tax charge by £18 million, through the £13 million of tax credit on distributions to the holders of Additional Tier 1 capital and a £5 million credit to the banking surcharge.

10. Loans and advances to customers

	2020						2019
	Loans held at amortised cost				Loans held at FVTPL	Total	Loans held at amortised cost					Loans held at FVTPL	Total
	Gross	Provisions	Other (note i)	Total			Gross		Provisions	Other (note i)	Total
Group	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m		£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Prime residential mortgages	151,069	(56)	-	151,013	71	151,084	151,445		(44)	-	151,401	72	151,473
Specialist residential mortgages	37,699	(196)	-	37,503	-	37,503	34,495		(162)	-	34,333	-	34,333
Consumer banking	4,994	(494)	-	4,500	-	4,500	4,586		(418)	-	4,168	-	4,168
Commercial and other lending	7,133	(40)	741	7,834	57	7,891	8,178		(41)	883	9,020	57	9,077
Total	200,895	(786)	741	200,850	128	200,978	198,704		(665)	883	198,922	129	199,051

Note:

i.  'Other' represents a fair value adjustment for micro hedged risk for commercial loans that were previously hedged on an individual basis.

The tables below summarise the movements in gross loans and advances to customers held at amortised cost, including the impact of ECL impairment provisions and excluding the fair value adjustment for micro hedged risk. T he lines within the tables are an aggregation of monthly movements over the year. Residential mortgages represent the majority of the Group's loans and advances to customers. Additional tables summarising the movements for the Group's residential mortgages and consumer banking are presented in the Credit risk section of the Risk report.

Reconciliation of movements in gross balances and impairment provisions
	Non-credit impaired				Credit impaired (note i)
	Subject to 12 month ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Total
	Stage 1		Stage 2		Stage 3 and POCI
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 5 April 2019	187,368	68	9,539	261	1,797	336	198,704	665
Stage transfers:
Transfers from Stage 1 to Stage 2	(16,930)	(39)	16,930	39	-	-	-	-
Transfers to Stage 3	(330)	-	(938)	(110)	1,268	110	-	-
Transfers from Stage 2 to Stage 1	14,397	226	(14,397)	(226)	-	-	-	-
Transfers from Stage 3	202	2	554	23	(756)	(25)	-	-
Net remeasurement of ECL arising from transfer of stage		(184)		262		18		96
Net movement arising from transfer of stage (note ii)	(2,661)	5	2,149	(12)	512	103	-	96
New assets originated or purchased (note iii)	34,049	31	-	-	-	-	34,049	31
Further lending/repayments (note iv)	(9,947)	(24)	(77)	(10)	(81)	(21)	(10,105)	(55)
Changes in risk parameters in relation to credit quality (note v)	-	(1)	-	42	-	26	-	67
Other items impacting income statement charge/(reversal) including recoveries	-	-	-	-	(1)	(11)	(1)	(11)
Redemptions (note vi)	(20,406)	(4)	(921)	(12)	(302)	(4)	(21,629)	(20)
Additional provision for Covid-19 (note vii)								101
Income statement charge for the year								209
Decrease due to write-offs	-	-	-	-	(123)	(99)	(123)	(99)
Other provision movements	-	-	-	-	-	11	-	11
4 April 2020 (note vii)	188,403	75	10,690	269	1,802	341	200,895	786
Net carrying amount (note vii)		188,328		10,421		1,461		200,109

The reasons for key movements shown in the table above are as follows:

· The movement in gross balances is principally a result of £34,049 million of new lending, offset by a reduction of £31,734 million from repayments and redemptions. The majority of these movements relate to residential mortgages.

· Of the £99 million of write-offs, £87 million relates to unsecured lending, £11 million to residential mortgages and £1 million to commercial and other lending.

· Impairment provisions increased by £121 million in the period to £786 million. This increase includes an additional £101 million provision for Covid-19. Further detail on the impairment provisions and losses by portfolio is shown in note 8.

Reconciliation of movements in gross balances and impairment provisions
	Non-credit impaired				Credit impaired (note i)
	Subject to 12 month ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Subject to lifetime ECL		Total
	Stage 1		Stage 2		Stage 3 and POCI
	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions	Gross balances	Provisions
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 5 April 2018	169,049	48	20,012	284	1,700	297	190,761	629
Stage transfers:
Transfers from Stage 1 to Stage 2	(29,278)	(30)	29,278	30	-	-	-	-
Transfers to Stage 3	(305)	(1)	(1,022)	(113)	1,327	114	-	-
Transfers from Stage 2 to Stage 1	37,282	266	(37,282)	(266)	-	-	-	-
Transfers from Stage 3	187	3	573	24	(760)	(27)	-	-
Net remeasurement of ECL arising from transfer of stage		(237)		287		20		70
Net movement arising from transfer of stage (note ii)	7,886	1	(8,453)	(38)	567	107	-	70
New assets originated or purchased (note iii)	38,717	30	-	-	-	-	38,717	30
Further lending/repayments (note iv)	(8,835)	(17)	(199)	(10)	(63)	(13)	(9,097)	(40)
Changes in risk parameters in related to credit quality (note v)	-	8	-	42	-	42	-	92
Other items impacting income statement charge/(reversal) including recoveries	2	-	-	-	(1)	(19)	1	(19)
Redemptions (note vi)	(19,451)	(2)	(1,821)	(17)	(285)	(1)	(21,557)	(20)
Income statement charge for the year								113
Decrease due to write-offs	-	-	-	-	(121)	(96)	(121)	(96)
Other provision movements	-	-	-	-	-	19	-	19
4 April 2019	187,368	68	9,539	261	1,797	336	198,704	665
Net carrying amount		187,300		9,278		1,461		198,039

Notes:

i.  Group gross balances of credit impaired loans include £155 million (2019: £167 million) of purchased or originated credit impaired (POCI) loans, which are presented net of lifetime ECL impairment provisions of £6 million (2019: £6 million).

ii.  The remeasurement of provisions arising from a change in stage is reported within the stage to which the assets are transferred.

iii.  If a new asset is generated in the month, the value included is the closing gross balance and provision for the month. All new business written is included in Stage 1.

iv.  This comprises further lending and capital repayments where the asset is not derecognised. The value for gross balances is calculated as the closing gross balance for the month less the opening gross balance for the month. The value for provisions is calculated as the change in exposure at default (EAD) multiplied by opening provision coverage for the month.

v.   This comprises changes in risk parameters, and changes to modelling inputs and methodology. The provision movement for the change in risk parameters is calculated for assets that do not move stage in the month.

vi.  For any asset that is derecognised in the month, the value disclosed is the provision at the start of that month.

vii. An additional provision for credit losses has been recognised to reflect the estimated impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ECLs. The additional provision at 4 April 2020 is £101 million. This additional provision has not been allocated to underlying loans nor has it been given an IFRS 9 stage, but is shown in the total column of the table. Additional detail on the calculation of this value is included in note 8.

Asset backed funding

Certain prime residential mortgages have been pledged to the Group's asset backed funding programmes or utilised as whole mortgage loan pools for the Bank of England's (BoE) Term Funding Scheme (TFS) and other short-term liquidity facilities. The programmes have enabled the Group to obtain secured funding. Mortgages pledged and the carrying values of the notes in issue are as follows:

Mortgages pledged to asset backed funding programmes
	2020					2019
	Mortgages pledged (note i)	Notes in issue				Mortgages pledged (note i)	Notes in issue
		Held by third parties (note ii)	Held by the Group		Total notes in issue		Held by third parties (note ii)	Held by the Group		Total notes in issue
			Drawn (note iii)	Undrawn (note iv)				Drawn (note iii)	Undrawn (note iv)
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Covered bond programme	28,003	20,740	-	-	20,740	22,656	17,339	-	-	17,339
Securitisation programme	15,177	4,215	-	2,533	6,748	6,936	3,051	-	339	3,390
Whole mortgage loan pools	23,570	-	18,183	-	18,183	24,117	-	17,001	-	17,001
Total	66,750	24,955	18,183	2,533	45,671	53,709	20,390	17,001	339	37,730

Notes:

i.  Mortgages pledged include £14.3 billion (2019: £7.7 billion) in the covered bond and securitisation programmes that are in excess of the amount contractually required to support notes in issue.

ii.  Notes in issue which are held by third parties are included within debt securities in issue.

iii.  Notes in issue, held by the Group and drawn are whole mortgage loan pools securing amounts drawn with the BoE under the TFS and US dollar (USD) funding operations. At 4 April 2020 the Group had outstanding TFS drawings of £17.0 billion (2019: £17.0 billion) and USD funding operations of £1.2 billion (2019: £nil).

iv.  Notes in issue, held by the Group and undrawn, are debt securities issued by the programmes to the Group and mortgage loan pools that have been pledged to the BoE but not utilised.

Mortgages pledged under the Nationwide Covered Bond programme provide security for issues of covered bonds made by the Group. During the year ended 4 April 2020, £4.3 billion (sterling equivalent) of notes were issued, and £1.6 billion (sterling equivalent) of notes matured.

The securitisation programme notes are issued by Silverstone Master Issuer plc and the issuance proceeds are used to purchase, for the benefit of note holders, a share of the beneficial interest in the mortgages pledged by the Group. The remaining beneficial interest in the pledged mortgages of £8.2 billion (2019: £3.9 billion) stays with the Group and includes its required minimum seller share in accordance with the rules of the programme. The Group is under no obligation to support losses incurred by the programme or holders of the notes and does not intend to provide such further support. The entitlement of note holders is restricted to payment of principal and interest to the extent that the resources of the programme are sufficient to support such payment and the holders of the notes have agreed not to seek recourse in any other form. During the year ended 4 April 2020, £2.0 billion (sterling equivalent) of notes were issued, and £1.0 billion (sterling equivalent) of notes matured.

The securitisation programme notes are issued by Silverstone Master Issuer plc. Silverstone Master Issuer plc is fully consolidated into the accounts of the Group.

The whole mortgage loan pools are pledged at the BoE Single Collateral Pool. Notes are not issued when pledging the mortgage loan pools at the BoE. Instead, the whole loan pool is pledged to the BoE and drawings are made directly against the eligible collateral, subject to a haircut. At 4 April 2020, £23.6 billion (2019: £24.1 billion) of pledged collateral supported £17.0 billion (2019:
£17.0 billion) of TFS drawdowns and £1.2 billion (2019: £nil) of USD Funding Operations.

In accordance with accounting standards, notes in issue and held by the Group are not recognised in the consolidated balance sheet. Mortgages pledged are not derecognised from the consolidated balance sheet as the Group has retained substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership. The Group continues to be exposed to the liquidity risk, interest rate risk and credit risk of the mortgages. No gain or loss has been recognised on pledging the mortgages to the programmes.

11. Subordinated liabilities and subscribed capital

	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Subordinated liabilities
Senior non-preferred notes and Tier 2 eligible subordinated notes	8,712	6,700
Fair value hedge accounting adjustments	635	37
Unamortised premiums and discounts	(30)	(31)
Total	9,317	6,706
Subscribed capital
Subordinated notes	212	212
Fair value hedge accounting adjustments	43	40
Unamortised premiums and discounts	(2)	(2)
Total	253	250

All of the Society's subordinated liabilities and permanent interest-bearing shares (PIBS) are unsecured. The Society may, with the prior consent of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), repay the PIBS and redeem the Tier 2 eligible subordinated notes early. The redemption of senior non-preferred notes does not require regulatory consent.

Senior non-preferred notes are a class of subordinated liability which rank equally with each other and behind the claims against the Society of all depositors, creditors and investing members other than holders of Tier 2 eligible subordinated notes, PIBS, Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments and core capital deferred shares (CCDS). The Tier 2 eligible subordinated notes rank equally with each other and ahead of claims against the Society of holders of PIBS, AT1 instruments and CCDS.

PIBS rank equally with each other and the Group's AT1 instruments. They are deferred shares of the Society and rank behind the claims against the Society of all noteholders, depositors, creditors and investing members of the Society, other than the holders of CCDS.

12. Provisions for liabilities and charges

	Bank levy	FSCS	Customer redress	Other provisions	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 4 April 2019	21	-	159	19	199
Adoption of IFRS 16 (note i)	-	-	-	(2)	(2)
At 5 April 2019	21	-	159	17	197
Provisions utilised	(46)	-	(101)	(10)	(157)
Charge for the year	55	-	75	26	156
Release for the year	-	-	(19)	(1)	(20)
Net income statement charge (note ii)	55	-	56	25	136
At 4 April 2020	30	-	114	32	176
At 5 April 2018	24	15	221	14	274
Provisions utilised	(46)	(6)	(77)	(17)	(146)
Charge for the year	43	1	79	26	149
Release for the year	-	(10)	(64)	(4)	(78)
Net income statement charge (note ii)	43	(9)	15	22	71
At 4 April 2019	21	-	159	19	199

Notes:

i.  On adoption of IFRS 16, onerous lease provisions of £2 million were transferred to right-of-use assets within property, plant and equipment in the consolidated balance sheet.

ii.  Of the net consolidated income statement charge of £136 million (2019: £71 million), a net charge of £56 million (2019: £6 million) relating to FSCS and customer redress is included in provisions for liabilities and charges, and a net charge of £80 million (2019: £65 million) relating to bank levy and other provisions is included in administrative expenses.

In addition to amounts in the table above, provisions for liabilities and charges in the consolidated income statement includes a £4 million credit recognised in respect of additional FSCS recoveries relating to failures provided for in previous years.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

The FSCS has confirmed that there will be no further interest costs following the sale of Bradford & Bingley plc asset portfolios and subsequent repayment of the loan to HM Treasury.

In common with other financial institutions subject to the FSCS, the Group continues to have a potential exposure to future levies resulting from the failure of other financial institutions and consequential claims which arise against the FSCS as a result of such failure.
 

Customer redress

During the course of its business, the Group receives complaints from customers in relation to past sales or ongoing administration. The Group is also subject to enquiries from and discussions with its regulators and governmental and other public bodies, including the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), on a range of matters. Customer redress matters may also exist in relation to other aspects of past sales and administration of customer accounts, non-compliance with consumer credit legislation or other regulatory matters. Customer redress provisions are recognised where the Group considers it is probable that payments will be made as a result of such complaints and other matters, and where such payments can be reliably estimated.

At 4 April 2020, the Group holds provisions of £114 million (2019: £159 million) in respect of the potential costs of remediation and redress in relation to past sales of PPI, issues relating to administration of customer accounts, non-compliance with consumer credit legislation and other regulatory matters.

The Group is currently investigating certain matters in connection with its quality control procedures. This investigation will conclude in the first half of 2020/21 and may result in an increase to provisions for customer redress.

Oth er provisions

Other provisions include amounts for severance costs, a number of property related provisions and ECLs on irrevocable personal loan and mortgage lending commitments.

Critical accounting estimates and judgements

There is significant estimation uncertainty in estimating the probability, timing and amount of any cash outflows associated with customer redress provisions.

Provision for PPI

At 4 April 2020, the Group held provisions of £51 million (2019: £80 million) for PPI, including the expected impact of Plevin v Paragon Personal Finance Limited . This represents management's best estimate of future compensation and administrative costs associated with cases that the Group expects to uphold and the cost of processing invalid claims. The provision estimate takes into account the average redress payments, referral rates to the FOS, uphold rates internally and with the FOS and complaint handling costs. The charge of £39 million for the year to 4 April 2020 brings the cumulative cost of PPI to £476 million.

The FCA's deadline for claims of 29 August 2019 has now passed, with enquiries received between 29 June 2019 and the deadline also being treated as claims received by the deadline where a PPI policy was held. This also included enquiries from the Official Receiver. The key areas of remaining uncertainty are therefore the average uphold rate and redress amounts for the claims received.

The table below shows the sensitivity of PPI provisions to these assumptions:

	Cumulative to 4 April 2020	Future expected	Sensitivity
Average uphold rate (note i)	44%	41%	5% = £2m
Average redress per claim (note ii)	£1,067	£1,060	£100 = £2m

Notes:

i.  The cumulative average uphold rate of claims includes responses to past proactive mailings. As a result, future expected average uphold rates are forecast to decline as no further proactive mailing activity is anticipated.

ii.  Future expected average redress reflects the expected mix of future claims that will be upheld.

Other provisions for customer redress

Provisions for other matters are in respect of issues relating to administration of customer accounts, non-compliance with consumer credit legislation and other regulatory matters, where an outflow is probable. Amounts provided are based on management's best estimate of the number of customers impacted and anticipated remediation. As any new matters emerge, an estimate is made of the outcome, although in some cases uncertainties remain as to the eventual costs given the inherent difficulties in determining the number of impacted customers and the amount of any redress applicable. In the case of provisions relating to the administration of customer accounts, if the number of customers paid redress changed by 10%, the current provision would change by £4 million. Provisions will be adjusted in future periods as further information becomes available.

13. Contingent liabilities

The Group does not expect the ultimate resolution of any current complaints, threatened or actual legal proceedings, regulatory or other matters to have a material adverse impact on its financial position .

14. Retirement benefit obligations

The Group operates two defined contribution pension schemes in the UK - the Nationwide Group Personal Pension Plan (GPP) and the Nationwide Temporary Workers Pension Scheme. New employees are automatically enrolled into one of these schemes, with both schemes being administered by Aviva. Outside of the UK, there are defined contribution pension schemes for a small number of employees in the Isle of Man.

The Group also has funding obligations to several defined benefit pension schemes, which are administered by boards of trustees. Pension trustees are required by law to act in the interests of all relevant beneficiaries and are responsible for the investment policy of fund assets, as well as the day to day administration. The Group's largest pension scheme is the Nationwide Pension Fund (the Fund). This is a contributory defined benefit pension scheme, with both final salary and career average revalued earnings (CARE) sections. The Fund was closed to new entrants in 2007 and since that date employees have been able to join the GPP. In line with UK pensions legislation, a formal actuarial valuation ('Triennial Valuation') of the assets and liabilities of the Fund is carried out at least every three years by independent actuaries.

On 17 February 2020, the Group announced that it would close the Fund to future accrual on 31 March 2021, with affected employees being moved to the GPP for future pension savings. From 1 April 2021, members will move from active to deferred status, with future indexation of deferred pensions before retirement measured by reference to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As CPI is lower than the previous assumptions which were based on the retail price index (RPI) and pay growth, a gain of £164 million has been recognised as a past service credit within administrative expenses in the year ended 4 April 2020. All affected employees who are active members of the Fund on 31 March 2021, or those who were active members at the point they were made redundant on or after 18 September 2019, will receive a one-off payment which may be taken in cash or as a contribution to their pensions. The cost of accruing for these payments of £60 million has been recognised within 'administrative expenses - other staff related costs' in the year ended 4 April 2020.

Further information on the Group's obligations to defined benefit pension schemes are set out below.

Defined benefit pension schemes

Retirement benefit obligations on the balance sheet
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Present value of funded obligations	6,228	6,375
Present value of unfunded obligations	8	8
	6,236	6,383
Fair value of fund assets	(6,530)	(6,278)
(Surplus)/deficit at 4 April	(294)	105

Most members of the Fund can draw their pension when they reach the Fund's retirement age of 65. The level of pension benefits accrued before 1 April 2011 vary in methodology; however, most are based on 1/54th of final salary for each year of service. Pension benefits accrued after 1 April 2011 are usually based on 1/60th of average earnings, revalued to the age of retirement, for each year of service (also called CARE). As noted above, there will be no future accrual of benefits from 1 April 2021, and future indexation of previously accrued benefits will be valued on the basis of CPI. 

On the death of a Fund member, benefits may be payable in the form of a spouse/dependant's pension, lump sum (paid within five years of a Fund member beginning to take their pension), or refund of Fund member contributions. Fund members are able to place redundancy severance into their pension.

Approximately 31% of the Fund's pension obligations have been accrued in relation to current employees (active Fund members), 36% for former employees (deferred Fund members) and 33% for current pensioners and dependants. The average duration of the Fund's pension obligation is approximately 22 years, reflecting the split of the obligation between current employees (26 years), deferred Fund members (24 years) and current pensioners (15 years).

The Group's retirement benefit obligations also include £8 million (2019: £8 million) in respect of unfunded legacy defined benefit arrangements.

Changes in the present value of the net defined benefit (asset)/liability (including unfunded obligations) are as follows:

Movements in net defined benefit (asset)/liability
	2020	2019
	£m	£m
Deficit at 5 April	105	345
Current service cost	90	89
Past service (credit)/cost	(169)	5
Benefits paid directly by the Group	-	(3)
Interest on net defined benefit (asset)/liability	(3)	6
Return on assets greater than discount rate	(141)	(370)
Contributions by employer	(127)	(131)
Administrative expenses	5	4
Actuarial (gains)/losses on defined benefit obligations	(54)	160
(Surplus)/deficit at 4 April	(294)	105

Current service cost represents the increase in liabilities resulting from employees accruing service over the year. This includes salary sacrifice employee contributions.

Included within the past service credit for the year ended 4 April 2020 is a gain of £164 million relating to the decision to close the Fund to future accrual on 31 March 2021. Past service (credit)/cost also includes a £2 million (2019: £3 million) increase in liabilities of the Fund arising from Fund members choosing to pay additional contributions (AVCs or pension credits), gains of £7 million (2019: £7 million) in respect of Fund members made redundant during the year and, in the year ended 4 April 2019, an additional £9 million representing the Fund's estimated Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMPs) equalisation obligation, following the High Court verdict on 26 October 2018 on GMP equalisation for men and women.

The interest on the net defined benefit (asset)/liability represents the interest accruing on the liabilities over the year, offset by the interest income on assets. A net interest credit of £3 million was recognised in the year ended 4 April 2020 (2019: £6 million cost), primarily as a result of reflecting the impact of favourable experience adjustments arising from the 2019 Triennial Valuation on the interest calculation for the period.

The £141 million gain relating to the return on assets greater than the discount rate (2019: £370 million) is driven by positive increases in the value of government bonds, offset by a deterioration in the value of certain assets due to market volatility, in light of Covid-19.

The £127 million of employer contributions includes deficit contributions of £61 million (2019: £61 million), with the remainder relating to employer contributions in respect of ongoing benefit accrual. The 31 March 2019 Triennial Valuation for the NPF is underway. The Society and Trustee are negotiating a new Schedule of Contributions and Deficit Recovery Plan, and this is expected to be agreed in 2020. Based upon the previous Schedule of Contributions and Deficit Recovery Plan agreed as part of the 31 March 2016 Triennial Valuation, expected contributions in the year ending 4 April 2021 would be approximately £122 million.

The £54 million actuarial gain on defined benefit obligations (2019: £160 million actuarial loss) shown above is due to:

· An experience gain of £117 million (2019: £12 million loss) reflecting the difference between estimates of long-term inflation and membership assumptions compared to actual long-term inflation and membership experience.

· A £34 million loss (2019: £206 million) from changes in financial assumptions, driven by a 0.45% decrease in the discount rate (which increases the value of liabilities), offset by a 0.65% decrease in assumed retail price index inflation (which decreases the value of the liabilities).

· A £29 million loss (2019: £58 million gain) due to updating to the latest industry standard actuarial model for projecting future longevity improvements as well as other demographic assumptions to reflect recent Fund experience.

The principal actuarial assumptions used are as follows:

Principal actuarial assumptions
	2020	2019
	%	%
Discount rate	1.95	2.40
Future salary increases	2.65	3.25
Future pension increases (maximum 5%)	2.55	3.00
Retail price index (RPI) inflation	2.60	3.25
Consumer price index (CPI) inflation	1.65	2.25

The assumptions for mortality rates are based on standard mortality tables which allow for future improvements in life expectancies and are adjusted to represent the Fund's membership. The assumptions made are illustrated in the table below showing how long the Group would expect the average Fund member to live for after the age of 60, based on reaching that age at 4 April 2020 or in 20 years' time at 4 April 2040.

Life expectancy assumptions (years)
	2020	2019
Age 60 at 4 April 2020
Males	27.6	27.9
Females	29.3	29.1
Age 60 at 4 April 2040:
Males	29.0	29.0
Females	30.6	30.6

Critical accounting estimates and judgements

Retirement benefit obligations

The key assumptions used to calculate the defined benefit obligation are the discount rate, inflation assumptions (including salary increases) and mortality assumptions. If different assumptions were used, this could have a material effect on the reported (surplus)/deficit. The sensitivity of the results to these assumptions is shown below:

Change in key assumptions at 4 April 2020
	Increase/(decrease) in surplus from assumption change
	£m
0.1% increase in discount rate	136
0.1% increase in inflation assumption	(120)
1 year increase in life expectancy at age 60 in respect of all members	(199)

The above sensitivities apply to individual assumptions in isolation. The 0.1% sensitivity to the inflation assumption includes a corresponding 0.1% increase in future salary increases and future pension increases assumptions.

In the current year additional estimation uncertainty exists in relation to the valuation of certain pension assets as at the balance sheet date, including investments in private equity, infrastructure and property. Adjustments have been made to reduce the value of these assets to reflect the adverse impacts of Covid-19 on market conditions which existed as at the balance sheet date. The sensitivity of these valuation adjustments is such that a further decrease of 10% to the adjusted asset values would result in a loss of approximately £110 million recognised in other comprehensive income. An increase of 10% to the adjusted asset values, limited to the original unadjusted carrying value, would result in a gain of approximately £95 million recognised in other comprehensive income. 

15. Core capital deferred shares

	Number of shares	CCDS	Share premium	Total
		£m	£m	£m
At 4 April 2020	10,500,000	11	1,314	1,325
At 4 April 2019	10,500,000	11	1,314	1,325

Core capital deferred shares (CCDS) are a form of Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital which have been developed to enable the Group to raise capital from the capital markets. Previously issued Tier 1 capital instruments, PIBS, no longer meet the regulatory capital requirements of CRD IV and are being gradually phased out of the calculation of capital resources under transitional rules.

CCDS are perpetual instruments. They rank equally to each other and are junior to claims against the Society of all depositors, creditors and investing members. Each holder of CCDS has one vote, regardless of the number of CCDS held.

In the event of a winding up or dissolution of the Society and if a surplus was available, the amount that the investor would receive for each CCDS held is limited to the average principal amount in issue, which is currently £129.24 per share.

There is a cap on the distributions that can be paid to holders of CCDS in any financial year. The cap is currently set at £16.61 per share and is adjusted annually in line with CPI.

A final distribution of £54 million (£5.125 per share) for the financial year ended 4 April 2019 was paid on 20 June 2019 and an interim distribution of £54 million (£5.125 per share) in respect of the period to 30 September 2019 was paid on 20 December 2019. These distributions have been recognised in the consolidated statement of movements in members' interests and equity.

Since the balance sheet date, the directors have declared a distribution of £5.125 per share in respect of the period to 4 April 2020, amounting in aggregate to £54 million. This has not been reflected in these consolidated financial statements as it will be recognised in the year ending 4 April 2021, by reference to the date at which it was declared .

 

16. Other equity instruments

	2020	2019
	£m	£m
At 5 April	992	992
Redemptions	(992)	-
Issuances	593	-
At 4 April	593	992

Other equity instruments are Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital instruments. The Society redeemed £1 billion (£992 million net of issuance costs) of AT1 capital instruments in full on 20 June 2019. An interest payment of £34 million, covering the period to 19 June 2019, was paid on 20 June 2019. This payment has been recognised in the statement of movements in members' interest and equity. The coupon paid represented the maximum non-cumulative fixed coupon of 6.875%.

The Society issued £600 million (£593 million net of issuance costs) of new AT1 capital instruments on 17 September 2019. The AT1 instruments rank equally to each other and are junior to claims against the Society of all depositors, creditors and investing members, other than the holders of CCDS. The AT1 instruments pay a fully discretionary, non-cumulative fixed interest at an initial rate of 5.875% per annum. The rate will reset on 20 June 2025 and every five years thereafter to the benchmark gilt reset reference rate plus 5.39% per annum. Coupons are paid semi-annually in June and December.

An interest payment of £8 million, covering the period from 17 September to 19 December 2019, was paid on 20 December 2019. This payment has been recognised in the statement of movements in members' interest and equity. The coupon paid represented the maximum non-cumulative fixed coupon of 5.875%. A coupon payment of £18 million, covering the period to 19 June 2020, is expected to be paid on 22 June 2020 and will be recognised in the consolidated statement of movements in members' interests and equity in the financial year ending 4 April 2021.

AT1 instruments have no maturity date but are repayable at the option of the Society from 20 December 2024 to 20 June 2025, and on every reset date thereafter. If the fully loaded CET1 ratio for the Society, on either a consolidated or unconsolidated basis, falls below 7% the AT1 instruments convert to CCDS instruments at the rate of one CCDS share for every £100 of AT1 holding.

Responsibility statement

The Directors confirm that the consolidated financial statements, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Group as required by the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (DTR 4.1.12). The Chief Executive's Review and the Financial Review together include a fair review of the development and performance of the business of the Group, and taken together with the primary financial statements, supporting notes and the Risk report provide a description of the principal risks and uncertainties faced.

A full list of the board of directors will be disclosed in the Annual Report and Accounts 2020.

Signed on behalf of the Board by

Chris Rhodes

Chief Financial Officer

28 May 2020

Other information

The financial information set out in this announcement which was approved by the Board on 28 May 2020 does not constitute accounts within the meaning of section 73 of the Building Societies Act 1986.

The Annual Report and Accounts 2019 have been filed with the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. The Annual Report and Accounts 2020 will be published on the website of Nationwide Building Society, nationwide.co.uk The report of the auditor on those accounts is unqualified and did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis. The Annual Report and Accounts 2020 will be lodged with the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority following publication.

A copy of this Preliminary report is placed on the website of Nationwide Building Society, nationwide.co.uk from 29 May 2020. The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of information on the Society's website. Information published on the internet is accessible in many countries with different legal requirements. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Contacts

Media queries: Sara Batchelor Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone] [e-mail] Eden Black Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone] [e-mail]

Investor queries: Alex Wall Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone] [e-mail] Carly Thomas Tel: [phone] Mobile: [phone] [e-mail]

 

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