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Metro Bank unveils record quarterly profits after avoiding shareholder revolt

Published: 08:52 25 Apr 2018 BST

Metro
Metro is “the bank that keeps on giving”, says chairman Vernon Hill

Metro Bank PLC (LON:MTRO) on Wednesday unveiled a surge in first quarter profits, a day after avoiding a shareholder revolt over multi-million pound payments made to the wife of the lender’s chairman.

Chairman Vernon Hill was re-elected as chairman on Tuesday at Metro’s annual general meeting despite controversy over payments made to InterArch, an architect and interior design firm owned by Hill’s wife Shirley.

Metro paid £4.1mln to InterArch in 2017 for architectural design, branding and marketing.

READ: Metro Bank faces shareholder rebellion over payments to firm owned by chairman's wife 

Shareholder Royal London Asset Management had said it would vote against Hill’s re-election, saying it was concerned about whether Metro was getting good value by using InterArch.

Shareholder advisory group, Glass Lewis, had also advised investors to vote against Hill's re-election.

However, 96% were in favour of Hill continuing in his role at the AGM.

Loan book smashes through £10bn barrier

In more positive news for the chairman, the challenger bank reported a 406% jump in underlying pre-tax profit to £10mln in the first three months of 2018.

Revenue increased 48% to £91.8mln as some 888 new accounts were opened with the lender, the bank said in a statement.

The loan book surpassed the £10mln barrier for the first time, marking a 69% increase on the previous year.

Deposits increased 41% to £12.7bn and assets grew 54% to £17.8bn.

Hill said Metro is “the bank that keeps on giving”.

Metro posted its first ever full year of profits in February after record lending and deposit growth, thanks to a rise in customer accounts.

READ: Metro Bank shares drop as fall in net interest margin overshadows swing to pretax profit

New 'selfie' tool to be launched

In the first quarter update, Metro chief executive Craig Donaldson said the bank would "invest significantly" in its digital offering with artificial intelligence tools to be launched on its mobile app this summer.

The tools include a "selfie" feature that allows new customers to use facial recognition technology to verify their identity for opening a new account online.

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