Nationwide Building Society posted a year-over-year decline in preliminary profit after tax for the year ended April 4 to £618 million from a restated £745 million and announced that Mark Rennison, who has been CFO for 12 years, will retire.

Rennison will remain in his role until a successor has been appointed and will continue to stand for re-election to Nationwide's board at the July 18 annual general meeting so that he may remain a director until he officially steps down.

The lender booked underlying profit before tax of £788 million for the year, down from £977 million a year earlier, while statutory pretax profit fell over the same period to £833 million from £977 million, mainly due to the impact of asset write-offs and technology investments.

Net interest income came in at £2.92 billion, down from the year-ago £3.00 billion. Fee and commission income remained flat on a yearly basis at £449 million, while fee and commission expense increased to £248 million from £244 million.

Nationwide booked other operating income of £54 million, compared to a loss of £77 million for the year ended April 4, 2018, which included a £116 million loss from a debt buyback during the period.

Impairment losses on loans and advances to customers widened year over year to £113 million from £107 million, while provisions for liabilities and charges narrowed to £6 million from £25 million.

As of April 4, Nationwide's common equity Tier 1 ratio was 32.4%, compared to 30.5% a year earlier. The Capital Requirements Regulation leverage ratio remained flat on a yearly basis at 4.6%.