Challenger bank Shawbrook jumps on IPO bandwagon
Shawbrook has become the latest challenger bank to announce plans to list on the London Stock Exchange, with plans to raise about £90m.
The announcement of its intention to float follows an impressive showing by rival Aldermore earlier this week, whose shares closed 12 per cent higher on its first day of trading. Its shares are currently trading at 222p, up 15 per cent from its 192p listing price.
Shawbrook was founded in 2011 to fill the gap left by high street lenders when they tightened restrictions on lending to small firms. George Mathewson, a former chief executive of RBS, chairs the bank.
This morning Richard Pyman, its chief executive, said the bank had developed a "clearly differentiated business with impressive returns". The bank made customer loans of £2.3bn in 2014, with an underlying profit before tax of £49.1m.
We believe we are well-positioned to achieve long-term sustainable growth and that Shawbrook will become an increasingly well-known name in the specialist world of British banking.