Nationwide boss Debbie Crosbie dismisses link to top job at NatWest

Nationwide’s boss has tried to dampen speculation that she could become chief executive of troubled Natwest.

Debbie Crosbie, who only took over the reins at the building society in June last year, is seen by some as a front-runner to replace Alison Rose at the taxpayer-backed bank.

Rose was forced to resign in July this year over a row over the closure of Nigel Farage’s account at Coutts, part of Natwest. She has since been stripped of shares and bonuses worth £7.6 million.

Natwest is still looking for a new CEO, with Crosbie’s name reportedly included in the list.

When Crosbie announced Nationwide’s half-year results yesterday, she stepped away from her job.

She told the Mail: ‘I’ve only been here 18 months. I really wanted to join Nationwide because I love the business model. I’m really happy here.’

Her comments came as member-owned Nationwide revealed that the number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments is increasing.

Britain’s third-largest mortgage lender saw an increase in arrears in the six months to the end of September, with 0.38 percent of residential mortgages in arrears of more than three months. This was an increase compared to 0.32 percent in early April.

Despite the fact that the number of homeowners struggling to pay is still ‘historically low’, bosses have set aside £305 million to cover potential losses on more than £200 billion in home loans.

Nationally it was indicated that there would not be much delay until mortgage interest rates were again below 3.5 percent. “Interest rates need to fall a little further to restore confidence in the mortgage market,” said Chris Rhodes, head of finance at the mortgage bank.

The average mortgage interest rate for a five-year mortgage is currently 5.35 percent.

Crosbie told the Mail that the banking sector is in a “much better state” than it was during the 2008 financial crisis.

But high interest rates still deter investors. Mortgage lending fell to £12.1 billion in the six months to September, compared with £19.7 billion in the previous year, Nationwide said.

Despite this, the building society’s mortgage portfolio grew to £202.3 billion at the end of September, up from £201.7 billion at the start of April.

Profits also rose 2 percent to £989 million thanks to an increase in the lender’s net interest margin – the amount a bank earns in interest on loans compared to the amount it pays in interest on deposits.

This increased from 1.48 percent to 1.66 percent in the half year. Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Lansdown said: ‘The building society model appears to be in poor health.’