Metro’s commercial and corporate new loan originations surge 71%

This comes as the bank strengthens its position in the specialist lending market with a focus on corporate, commercial and SME lending, and specialist mortgages.

Yesterday, Metro Bank announced the sale of a £584m portfolio of unsecured personal loans to bolster its specialist lending focus.

Year-on-year gross new corporate and commercial lending rose by 71% from £0.7bn in 2023 to £1.2bn in 2024.

According to the results, growth in new corporate, commercial and SME lending was offset by continued attrition of commercial real estate and portfolio BTL portfolios.

Retail mortgages dropped by 34% year-on-year to £5.1bn, but remain the largest component of the bank’s lending book at 56%.

Metro’s pivot towards specialist mortgages continues, following recent investment to re-platform its mortgage business and enhance its product offering.

Commercial loans (excluding BBLS, CBILS and RLS) increased by 9% in 2024 to £2.66bn.

Total net loans at 31st December 2024 stood at £9bn, down 27% from the previous year, primarily driven by the £2.5bn sale of a prime residential mortgage portfolio in H2 2024.

Metro Bank returned to profitability with underlying profit before tax in H2 2024 of £12.8m, following a loss of £26.8m in H1 2024.

The bank will open three new stores in 2025 in Chester, Gateshead, and Salford, with all locations selected to support its local customers and its growing corporate, commercial and SME banking offering.

"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 Daniel Frumkin, CEO at Metro Bank.

“We have successfully continued our pivot towards higher-margin business in the form of corporate, commercial and SME lending, and specialist mortgages, while also taking significant steps to reduce our costs and optimising our funding model.

“We have simplified and strengthened our balance sheet and, as a result, end the year with a robust capital position.”