OREANDA-NEWS. March 12, 2015. In a new comment, Fitch Ratings says that the strong full-year 2014 results reported by UK building societies were supported by an improvement in margins as a result of low funding costs, low impairment charges and strong efficiency ratios for most of the sector.

Although Fitch expects continued strong performance in 2015, we anticipate some earnings pressure as persistent low interest rates, increasing competition for mortgage origination and possibly higher attrition from their managed rates will likely result into tighter overall profitability. Fitch also assumes that some diversification into higher risk exposures may emerge to compensate for the tightening spreads.

The comment, 'UK Building Societies - 2014 Results' is available at www.fitchratings.com or by clicking on the link above.