- Metro revealed deposit levels rose 4% to £16.2bn in the first quarter
- However, the high street lender saw total lending fall by 9% to £11.8bn.
Metro Bank’s deposits grew in the first quarter following a campaign to win back customers with high-interest-rate savings accounts after the 2023 turmoil.
The major lender revealed deposit levels rose 4 per cent year-on-year to £16.2bn in the three months to March after they declined in 2023 amid major concerns over the future of Metro Bank .
However, total lending fell 9 per cent to £11.8bn as the group refocused its balance sheet towards more profitable specialist mortgages and lending to small and medium-sized businesses.
Results: Senior lender Metro Bank revealed deposit levels rose 4 per cent year-on-year to £16.2bn in the three months to the end of March.
Last September, the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulatory Authority denied Metro permission to assess mortgage risks using its own internal models, which big banks can use to improve profitability.
Many of the bank’s customers began withdrawing large volumes of cash when reports emerged that Metro was trying to raise hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up its finances.
Although the business was profitable, its capital levels were only slightly above the minimum regulatory threshold, posing a threat to its creditworthiness.
Metro eventually reached a £925m rescue deal, which included a £102m capital injection from Spaldy Investments, a firm run by Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal, who became the bank’s majority shareholder.
Metro has since cut around 1,000 jobs, equivalent to more than a fifth of its workforce, as part of its efforts to save £80m in costs this year.
In addition, the company’s branches are no longer open on Sundays or holidays, a practice that has existed since the bank began operating.
All sites are now open Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., but most are completely closed at weekends, while 32 outlets are only open on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Metro was the first British bank in more than 150 years when it was founded in 2010 by Anthony Thomson and American Vernon Hill.
The latter resigned as president of the company in 2019, the same year that Metro admitted to having miscalculated the risk weight of a large commercial loan portfolio.
Metro Bank Holdings Stock They fell 1.9 per cent to 34.05 pence early on Tuesday afternoon, meaning they have plummeted more than 94 per cent in the last five years.
Daniel Frumkin, chief executive of Metro Bank, said the company was “confident that financial results will continue to improve throughout 2024” following its latest results.