Yahoo Finance Metro Bank shares crash another 16% after customers pull £2bn
Shares in troubled Metro Bank (MTRO.L) fell another 16% on Thursday after a disappointing trading update.
The fresh slide means Metro Bank has now lost over 85% of its value since a loan misclassification error dented investor confidence and forced the bank to raise fresh cash.
Metro Bank announced after markets close on Wednesday that customers have withdrawn £2bn since January, when the lender announced it was short on cash after misclassifying loans.
The eight-year-old challenger bank also slipped to a quarterly loss of £1.2m, compared to a profit of £8.8m in the same period last year.
“This has been a challenging first half for the bank, with deposit outflows following intense speculation at the time of our capital raise in May,” CEO Craig Donaldson said.
Metro Bank was forced to raise £375m in May to shore up its accounts in response to the accounting error, which left it short on regulatory capital.
“Despite this, we have delivered a resilient performance with both personal and business current accounts growing alongside increased revenues and fee income, with deposit growth returning to normal in June and July to date,” Donaldson said.
Metro Bank received net deposits of £700m so far in July. Revenues grew by 45% year-on-year to £189.8m.
Metro Bank shares were down 16% to £39.97 at 10.50am UK time on Thursday in response to the results.
The slide means Metro Bank has now lost over 85% of its value since the loan misclassification was first announced in January.
Metro Bank announced on Thursday that it was beginning a search for a new chair, with founder Vernon Hill II agreeing to step down when a replacement is found. The bank has been under pressure from investors to shake up governance since the loan error was first announced.
American billionaire Hill founded Metro Bank in 2010. At the time, it was the first new high street bank to open in the UK for over 100 years.
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Oscar Williams-Grut covers banking, fintech, and finance for Yahoo Finance UK. Follow him on Twitter at @OscarWGrut.
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