Industry Analysis & Industry Trends
The past five years have been a tumultuous period for most of the Financial sector, with the Building Societies industry no exception. A booming property market drove strong growth early in the period, before the financial crisis resulted in demand for loans evaporating, losses on bad loans exploding and access to wholesale funding drying up. With interest rates slashed to emergency lows, industry revenue more than halved in the two years through 2009-10. Industry revenue is expected to decline at an annualised 12.9% over the five years through 2012-13.
The industry faces another tough year in 2012-13, with the bleak economic outlook, tightening regulatory environment and ongoing European financial crisis expected to weigh on credit demand and revenue... purchase to read more
Industry Report - Starting a New Business Chapter
Barriers to entry into the Building Societies industry include the regulatory requirements imposed on potential entrants, difficulty in accessing funds, the existing presence of building societies' branch networks in potential markets and the difficulty in attaining and retaining a loyal customer/member base.
Most of the existing building societies are extremely well established in their geographical markets, having existed for many years and grown with their surrounding communities. Any new entrant into the industry will face difficulty competing with existing business societies that already have scale advantages in terms of branch networks, along with extensive existing customer bases... purchase to read more