Business
1st Quarter Results
1st Quarter Results.
About this update from Metro Bank Holdings Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 7977X Metro Bank PLC 01 May 2019 \n\n \nMetro Bank PLC\nQ1 Trading Update 2019\n1 May 2019\n \n \nMETRO BANK REPORTS STRONG GROWTH IN CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS DESPITE CHALLENGING QUARTER\n \nMetro Bank PLC (LSE: MTRO LN)\n \n\n\n\nQ1 Summary\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nCustomer account growth of 97,000 (Q1 2018: 88,000) to 1.7 million, including year-on-year personal current account growth of 24%, and business current account growth of 23%.\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nYear-on-year total deposit growth of £2.4b ($3.1b), up 19% to £15.1b ($19.6b). Deposit performance quarter-on-quarter impacted by adverse sentiment following January's trading update, leading to a small number of commercial and partnership customers withdrawing deposits in January and February, resulting in a modest 3.6% reduction. Momentum in the core franchise continued. Total deposits stabilised in March and returned to net growth in April.\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nYear-on-year loan growth of £4.2b ($5.5b), up 38% to £15.2b ($19.8b). Loan growth in the quarter up £0.9b ($1.2b). \n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nLoan to deposit ratio increased to 100% (Q4 2018: 91%) as a result of servicing the committed lending pipeline originated during Q4 2018.\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nUnderlying profit before tax1 at £6.9m (Q1 2018: £10.0m) and statutory profit before tax at £4.3m (Q1 2018: £8.6m). The year-on-year reduction reflects a £2.0m net effect of adopting IFRS 16 from 1 January 2019, and £3.5m quarterly interest expense on the Tier 2 debt issued in June 2018. Underlying earnings per share 5.1p (Q1 2018: 7.2p).\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nProfitability benefited from fee and other income growth of 22% in the quarter to £22.4m (Q4 2018: £18.3m), up 58% year-on-year, driven by the development of new services and optimising fee structures.\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nStrong asset quality with cost of risk at 6bps, a 3bps improvement from Q1 2018, reflecting our continued low-risk lending approach.\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\n£120m Capability and Innovation funding received in full in April, with leases signed for new stores in Manchester and Liverpool in the North of England.\n \n\n\n\n\n· \n\n\nBest bank for overall quality of service for personal current account customers and second for business current account banking in the latest CMA survey.\...