Metro Bank plc (LON:MTRO) narrowed its 2016 pre-tax loss as revenue was boosted by record growth in lending, deposits and customer account numbers.
The FTSE 250 challenger bank reported an underlying pre-tax loss of £11.7mln in the year to 31 December 2016, excluding costs related to its flotation last March and impairment charges, compared to £46.6mln in 2015.
Revenue increased 62% to £195mln, supported by a 56% increase in deposits to £7.9mln and a 66% rise in lending to £5.86mln and a 260,000 gain in customer accounts to 915,000.
The bank’s common tier 1 equity ratio stood at 18.1%. Total assets rose to £10.1mln at 31 December from £6.2mln at the end of 2015.
The company said it was on track to turn its first profit this year and will open a further 10-12 branches as part of plans for expansion.
“It’s been another great quarter and I’m delighted with our full-year performance,” chief executive Craig Donaldson said.
“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.”
The bank added that it expects to achieve its 2020 guidance, which includes around 110 new stores, average new growth in deposits per store a month of £5.25mln, a loan to desposit ratio of 80%, a cost-to-income ratio of 60%, cost of risk of 20 basis points, net interest margin and fees of about 3% and a return on equity of 18%.
Metro said it has seen no change in customer behaviour since the UK voted to leave the European Union last June.
Shares rose 1.0% to 3,545p in morning trade.