Member Article

Challenger bank Aldermore 'optimistic' as profits rise 44%

London-based bank Aldermore has announced positive growth across the board in its half year results which were announced to the stock exchange this morning.

The retail bank, which provides financial services to UK SMEs, saw its underlying profit before tax jump by 45%, touching £63m for H1 and up from the £44m it saw in the same period in 2015.

New lending also increased to £1.5bn in the period, representing a 26% year-on-year increase from £1.2bn as the bank, which was only founded in2009, continued to diversify its loan portfolio.

Phillip Monks, Chief Executive at Aldermore, hailed the bank’s ‘strong and balanced’ growth, which saw it grow its customer base while still maintaining its prudent underwriting strategy.

Touching upon the Bank of England’s interest rate cut on 4 August, Monks said that Aldermore intends to pass on the full reduction to its lending and deposit customers, and did not anticipate that the central bank’s move, which saw rates slashed to an historic low of 0.25%, would not impact on its net interest income.

Furthermore, he went on to say that the bank had not experienced any negative impact from June’s EU referendum and that, while exposed to the wider economic effects of any Brexit-induced downturn, the bank’s UK focus means it is not directly exposed to any change in the country’s relationship with European markets.

He commented: “Following the EU Referendum, we all face a period of heightened political and economic uncertainty. As a purely UK-focused business, we are not directly exposed to potential changes in access to European markets.

However, we are exposed to the wider economic effects of the result. To date, we have seen no direct impact on our business but we continue to monitor the situation closely and have a proven ability to react quickly to a changing environment.“

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