Apropo of the profit motive

Last week we saw a massive pay to John Lewis staff, this week it seems the Co-op bank has done rather well in the harsh economic climate. From the Guardian;

The Co-op is paying its 5 million members - up 1.5 million over the last year - a dividend of £55m, 16% higher than in 2008...

The group, which traces its roots to the founding of the co-operative movement in Rochdale in 1844, today reported a 38% jump in new current accounts as consumers deserted the bigger banks in droves in the wake of the financial crisis. It gained 140,000 new customers, taking the total to 1.2 million, and doubled its share of the current account market to 4%...

Operating profits at the financial arm, which owns brands such as the online bank Smile, rose 21% to £177m. The Co-op, which now has 330 bank branches and customer deposits of £32.5bn following the merger with Britannia, is hoping to make further inroads into the mortgage market, of which it has 3-4%, with the launch of new products starting with a three-year tracker mortgage at 2.49% tomorrow...

[Peter Marks, the chief excutive said] "These are record results in what has been an historic year for the Co-operative Group... it seems, our business model has never been quite so relevant. Our Financial Services business has continued to flourish in spite of the global recession."

Just thought I'd point out there are other business models, and they can work. That's all.