Black Friday frenzy boosts Secure Trust Bank

SOLIHULL’S Secure Trust Bank has revealed that the retail frenzy that is ‘Black Friday’ saw a 1300% increase in retail finance applications and a 600% increase in new business written compared to the same day in 2013.

In a pre-closing trading update to the London Stock Exchange the firm suggested this highlights how its proposition supports the growing numbers of retailers itwork with in the finance and sale of their products.

Secure Trust says it has traded well during the final quarter. The total loan book closed the year in excess of £600m.

“As a result of the carefully managed growth in lending balances coupled with continuing lower levels of impairments and firm operational cost control STB anticipates full year results to be at or above the upper end of market expectations,” it said.

Growth in consumer lending, especially in retail finance and motor, remained strong and overall new consumer lending business volumes are materially higher than for the same period in 2013.

Secure Trust said it has continued to make significant progress with the development of its SME lending activities.

The company is now providing asset finance, invoice finance and real estate finance and says it is seeing very strong demand for these services from a wide variety of business customers.

Secure Trust’s total new lending volumes written during 2014 are more than 75% higher than the prior year.

It says its capital and funding levels remain very strong.

“Conditions in the savings market continue to be favourable and support the ongoing strategy of funding customer lending with customer deposits of similar tenor thereby minimising the group’s exposure to interest rate risk,” it said.

 

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