Metro Bank has decided not to sell £3bn of its residential mortgage portfolio due to market conditions.
Following speculation earlier this year, the lender confirmed it was looking to offload loans to improve its profitability and reduce its risk weighted assets. This came as Metro Bank secured a finance package of £925m to raise capital.
In an update, the bank said following this capital package and a cost reduction plan it now had “renewed balance sheet strength”.
Last month, the bank announced it would reduce its headcount by a fifth in a move which would save around £30m a year.
Metro Bank said its board “carefully considered” the sale of up to £3bn of residential mortgages and concluded, “given the prevailing market environment, it is in the best interests of shareholders to retain the existing loan portfolio”.
Barclays, Lloyds, Natwest and Santander were among some of the lenders reported to have expressed interest in acquiring the portfolio.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
