Member Article

Metro Bank targeting profitability for 2017 after impressive lending and deposit growth

London-headquartered challenger bank, Metro Bank, has unveiled ‘record’ growth in its deposits and lending for 2016 as it stalks towards profitability.

The bank revealed that customer deposits were up 56% year-on-year to £7,951m while lending was also up by 66% on 2015, rising to £5,865m as it continued to grow its customer base.

Revenue at the bank, which began operating in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis, has also grown by 62% to £195m while underlying losses before tax were down to £11.7m compared to £46.6m in 2015, as it continues on the long road to turning a profit.

Craig Donaldson, Chief Executive Officer at Metro Bank commented: “It’s been another great quarter and I’m delighted with our 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.”

While other high-street rivals have opted to reduce their branch portfolio, Metro has continued to expand its estate in the last 12 months, announcing in January that it planned to open 12 more branches this year and create 500 new positions across its operations.

Donaldson added: “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.”

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