The challenger bank’s loss is a significant reduction on the £46.6m loss reported for 2015 and it expects to achieve a full year of profitability in 2017.
Metro managed to deliver two successive quarters of profitability as it achieved underlying profit before tax of £1.5m for Q4 2016, up from £0.6m in Q3.
This was aided by Metro achieving record deposit growth throughout 2016 of 56% year-on-year to almost £8bn.
Craig Donaldson, chief executive officer at Metro Bank, revealed that it had invested close to £100m in technology, stores and colleague training with the bank opening its 48th store in 2016.
“It’s been another great quarter and I’m delighted with our full-year performance.
“We continue to show significant growth across lending, deposits and customer account numbers with continued integration of technology across all our channels, including stores, creating a compelling service experience for our retail and business customers.”
The challenger bank reported record lending growth during 2016 up 66% on 2015 to almost £5.9bn.
Metro saw commercial loans grow by 64% during the year, while residential mortgages grew 67%.
Vernon Hill, chairman and founder of Metro Bank, felt that the response to the bank had exceeded its expectations.
“I’m very proud of the bank’s success over the past 12 months, and my thanks go to our colleagues, investors and fans who are Metro Bank.
“I am confident that this is just the beginning, the best is yet to come.”
Metro hopes to add to its network with the opening of a further 10-12 stores in 2017 as it aims to deliver a full year of profitability this year.
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