Building society Nationwide said on Friday (12 August) that it remained upbeat over its outlook, despite the volatility caused by June's European Union referendum. The group, the largest building society in the world, also indicated it would pass on the 25 basis points cut on interest rates, which was announced by the Bank of England last week, onto its customers who are on a base mortgage rate, standard mortgage rate or tracker mortgage product.

Nationwide added saving rates will remain unchanged at 5%, 3.5% and 2% for customers who currently hold "Flexclusive regular saver", "FlexOne regular saver" and "Help to Buy ISA" products respectively.

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"We are in the fortunate position to be able to take a long term view and focus on providing great service, security and stability for our members," said group chief executive Joe Garner.

"This will be particularly important in a time of increased uncertainty and market volatility following the EU referendum.

"The contribution that our society continues to make in support of the housing market and by offering long term value to savers, even in the current low interest rate environment, is evident in our trading results for the first quarter which represent a strong start to the year."

That came as the Swindon-based group saw profit in the first quarter of its financial year, which ended on 30 June, rose from £379m to £401m. Net lending increased from £2.1bn in the corresponding period last year to £3.5bn, as Nationwide's share of the UK residential mortgage market jumped from 27.5% to 52.8%.

The number of new accounts opened in the period also ticked higher, rising from 115,000 a year ago to 139,000.

However, the group's net interest margin, a key gauge for banks which measures the difference between the amount lenders earn in interest from borrowers and the amount they pay out to savers, fell from 1.61% to 1.35%.

"Expectations that the low interest rate environment will persist or that rates may decrease further in the wake of the EU referendum decision may exert further pressure on margins," Nationwide said.