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Metro mortgage lending up 67% – results

by: Heather Greig-Smith
  • 23/02/2017
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Metro mortgage lending up 67% – results
Metro Bank grew mortgage lending by 67% in 2016, according to annual figures released this week.

Gross residential mortgage lending reached £3.6bn, rising £1.4bn from the end of 2015. Of that, £402m was fourth quarter lending.

The challenger bank announced its second consecutive quarter of profitability as overall deposits and lending for 2016 rose 56% and 66% respectively. Deposits stand at just under £8bn, with total lending at £5.9bn.

Metro’s loan to deposit ratio is also rising, at 74% compared with 69% the previous year.

On a full year basis, the bank made a statutory loss before tax of £17.2m. However, this compares to a loss of £56.8m in 2015. For Q4, it reported a statutory profit before tax of £0.9m, up from £0.02m in Q3. The fourth quarter was the first quarter Metro has reported profit after tax.

The bank said it expects to be profitable in 2017 and has seen no change in customer behaviour as a result of the Brexit vote.

Chief executive Craig Donaldson (pictured) said he was delighted with the full-year performance. “We continue to show significant growth across lending, deposits and customer account numbers with continued integration of technology across all our channels, including stores, creating a compelling service experience for our retail and business customers.”

He added that there has been significant spending on infrastructure. “The year saw continued major investment in technology, stores and colleague training – c. £100m in total – helping us to achieve a 62% full year increase in revenue and our second successive quarter of profitability. Our absolute focus on creating fans through our model, culture and fanatical execution goes from strength-to-strength.”

Non-performing loans account for 0.12% of the loan portfolio across all lending classes. The bank increased its customer accounts 40% in the last year to 915,000 and has 48 ‘stores’ or branches.

In 2017 it plans to open a further 10-12 branches and said it will deliver full year profitability for the first time.

Vernon Hill (pictured), chairman and founder at Metro Bank, said: “The response of the British public to Metro Bank has exceeded our expectations. Our goal is to create a legendary, emotional brand by creating fans who join our brand, remain loyal and bring their friends. I am confident that this is just the beginning. The best is yet to come.”

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