Secure Trust Bank’s customer loan book passes the £1bn mark
SOLIHULL-based Secure Trust Bank (STB) has revealed that its customer loan book ended the year in excess of £1bn – showing growth of more than 70%.
In a trading update to the London Stock Exchange ahead of its annual results announcement for the year ended 31 December 2015, the bank said it had traded well during the final quarter with demand for lending remaining positive across all portfolios.
The development of the group’s SME lending activities has continued throughout 2015. It says it has seen strong demand for its asset finance, invoice finance and real estate finance offerings from a wide variety of business customers.
STB said the market dynamics of this sector remain positive, with the Finance and Leasing Association announcing that gross lending to businesses in the 12 months to November 2015 grew by 9.6%, with lending to SMEs growing at a faster rate than for larger corporates.
During the period STB announced the conditional sale of its subsidiary, Everyday Loans Holdings to Non Standard Finance.
STB anticipates its full year results will be in line with market expectations, allowing for one off costs relating to the Everyday Loans transaction which are not contingent on the transaction completing.
It said consumer lending balances have grown in line with management’s strategy to focus more on retail and motor finance than on personal unsecured loans.
The group’s total new lending volumes written during 2015 are more than 65% higher than the previous year.
STB said its capital and funding levels remain strong and will be considerably strengthened upon the completion of the ELG divestment. This should increase the equity base of the group by circa £115m.
