Profits at Starling Bank fell in the past year as the effects of the digital challenger's growing number of customers was dented by a £29 million fine for its "shockingly lax" money laundering controls.
The UK fintech today posted its fourth consecutive annual pre-tax profit of £223 million for the year to March, but it was down 26% from the year before.
On the plus side, revenue rose to 4.7% to £714 million as customer deposits swelled to a high of £12.1 billion, up from £11 billion a year earlier.
Open accounts increased 10% to a new high of 4.6 million - and up from around 43,000 customers in 2017.
While the bank's board enthused about a potential IPO last summer, there was no mention of listing this time, though chief executive Raman Bhatia said the results "represent an important milestone, marking the group’s fourth consecutive year of profitability and revenue growth".
Bhatia, an ex-HSBC banker who was appointed in March last year after founder Anne Boden stepped down in 2023, said the year had seen the lender demonstrate its "commitment to addressing legacy matters, investing in our people and capabilities so we now move forward from a position of strength".
He also highlighted the "great strides" for its Engine by Starling technology arm, which provides a software-as-a-service banking platform that allowed its first clients, Salt Bank in Romania and AMP Bank in Australia, to both launch their own digital banking platforms during the year.
This contributed £8.7 million to group income and Starling suggested the current customer pipeline could see recurring revenues of over £100 million in "the short to medium term".