Challenger bank Aldermore says IPO will still happen as lending lifts

Challenger bank Aldermore, which pulled the plug on a planned London Stock Exchange listing last month, has posted promising third quarter results.

 

Aldermore's total lending rose by 10 per cent in the third quarter, taking it to a 30 per cent increase since the beginning of 2014. This helped lift third quarter pre-tax profit to close to the £18.6m made in the first half of this year.

 

Last month it cancelled the planned stock market flotation, which would have valued the company at £800m, citing increasingly choppy global equity markets. It became one of several companies – including Fat Face and BlueInc – to cancel their listings.

 

However chief executive officer Phillip Monks told Reuters earlier today that the IPO was still in the pipeline. "We're watching the markets closely and as and when the time is right we'll be able to move very quickly", he said.

 

Challenger banks are high street start-ups eyeing up the market share of the 'Big Four' including HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Lloyds. These smaller banks aim to prise customers away from the traditional high street heavy weights with new deals on current accounts, credit cards and other financial products.