Metro bank returned to profitability in the second half of the year as the bank pivoted away from retail banking and towards specialist lending to businesses and SMEs.
The bank reported underlying profit before tax of £12.8mn in the second half of 2024, up from a £26.8mn loss in the previous six months. For the full year, however, the bank reported a pre-tax loss of £212mn, down from a profit of £30mn the previous year.
The bank said the loss for the full year had been largely driven by its sale of a £2.5bn portfolio of prime residential mortgages to NatWest Group as well as “various charges relating to the transformation of the business and remediation costs”.
“It has been a transformational year for Metro Bank as we made substantial progress against our strategy, ending the period ahead of guidance, profitable, and with strong momentum going forward,” said chief executive Daniel Frumkin.
This story has been amended since publication to correct Metro Bank’s full-year loss figure.