They’re in the money: CYBG turns its first profit before tax in five years
Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group (CYBG) has today revealed a full year profit before tax, its first in five years.
The figures
The banking group turned a full year profit before tax of £77m for the year ended September 2016, compared with a £285m loss the year before.
However, the company was still making a loss once tax was taken into account, with losses after tax of £164m, compared with a loss of £229m last year, mainly thanks to changes in accounting treatment of certain assets.
Net interest income also rose to £806m, up 2.4 per cent on the prior year's £787m.
However, the bank's Common Equity Tier 1 ratio had slipped to 12.6 per cent, down from 13.2 per cent the year before.
The bank also announced a £350m investment programme to run for the next two years.
Why it's important
It's not exactly an easy time out there for banks. Lower for longer interest rates are putting a squeeze on the revenue lenders can hope to pull in.
However, while most retail banks are closing the doors on branches, CYBG could be about to open up some new locations. The company current has a bid on the table to snap up Williams & Glyn, the network of more than 300 branches which Royal Bank of Scotland has been told to ditch as part of its state bailout deal.
CYBG has said today that talks are still ongoing, but it is not certain whether the deal will go ahead or on what terms.
Today's set of results also mark the bank's first in its current guise as a public limited company, after demerging from National Australia Bank.
What did CYBG think?
We are perfectly placed to disrupt the status quo in the UK banking market.
David Duffy, chief executive of CYBG, said: "We are investing in our future, with an investment programme in the next two years of over £350m in part to unlock the potential of CYBG's digital platform which will drive improvements in our customer experience and distribution capabilities.
"As the only true full service, challenger bank of scale, we are perfectly placed to disrupt the status quo in the UK banking market."
Jim Pettigrew, chairman of CYBG, added: "2016 has been a landmark year in the long history of our bank, as we became independent for the first time since the 1920s.
"Our ambition is straightforward: to become the credible alternative to the big UK banks. We intend to achieve this using our scalable infrastructure to support our growth ambitions, and our enhanced digital capability to streamline process and deliver a superior customer experience."