Aldermore ramps up the lending after IPO as challenger bank set to meet investor expectations
Challenger bank Aldermore reported a sustained surge in lending in the first quarter of the year, continuing to rack up the growth after going public in March.
Net lending increased seven per cent in the three-month period to hit £5.1bn, with organic loan origination coming in at £568m, up nine per cent on same period of 2014.
As a result Aldermore is set to hit a pledge to investors that it will make £1.4bn of net new loans in 2015.
Deposits rose four per cent to £4.7bn, with small business deposits making up £1.1bn of that – a rise of 10 per cent in the quarter.
“It is too early to see any specific trends from the election, but pre-election and last year we saw greater confidence from SMEs to go and invest in new kit, and more confidence in the housing market, despite the odd fluctuation,” Aldermore chief executive Philip Monks told Morning Wire
“As long as the government is able to continue to grow GDP, we will see that confidence, as firms commit to more investment.”
The bank’s shares slid 1.38 per cent on the results.
But analyst James Hamilton at Numis said the figures are all pointing in the right direction.
“Aldermore is a high-margin, specialist business that we expect to deliver significant gains in operational efficiency over our forecast period,” he said. “We forecast Aldermore will deliver 48 per cent compound growth in profitability over our forecast period.”