Co-op Bank cuts its losses to £174.4m

Losses at the Co-operative Bank were down to £174.4m in 2017 from £477.1m in the prior year thanks to big reductions in operating expenditure and its chief executive is now targeting transition into profitability.

The Manchester-based bank cut its staff costs by £35.1m and non-staff costs were reduced by £20.5m in the year to December 31.

Total expenditure fell from £309.5m in 2016 to £88.3m.

Liam Coleman, Chief Executive Officer, said the completion of the recapitalisation of the bank in September had transformed its capital position and provides “a solid platform” to deliver its future plans.

“We concluded 2017 demonstrating a resilient business performance in our priority markets of mortgages and savings, despite the uncertainties earlier in the year,” he said.

“We are grateful to our investors for their continued support and to our customers for their loyalty during a challenging year for the Bank.

“As we move forward our foremost priority is to continue to reduce our losses and achieve profitability.

“Like all retail banks we are operating in a difficult market place and we expect increasing competition in the mortgage market moving forward.

“Our distinctive ethical brand, which we know is greatly valued by customers, continues to represent a clear point of difference for us and our access of the Bank of England’s Term Funding Scheme (TFS) ahead of its closure together with our recent securitisation of the Optimum book means we have a strong funding position.

“We must focus on using that in the most effective way to support future growth as we implement our plan to build a successful, sustainable Co-operative Bank.”