UK challenger bank Aldermore saw its first-half profits more than double, as underlying profit before tax rose by 109% year-on-year to £44m (60m).
The bank’s loans to SMEs increased by £270m (12%) compared to H2 2014, reaching £2.5bn.
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Aldermore said it was on track to deliver growth in net loans, including to SMEs, of £1.4bn in 2015, equivalent to 30% full year growth.
The news has been met positively by the stock market, with shares up 9% at the time of writing.
Phillip Monks, chief executive officer at Aldermore, said: "It’s been an excellent six months for the Group, we’ve generated continued growth, doubled profits, listed on the London Stock Exchange and joined the FTSE 250. We’re supporting more customers than ever before with lending to SMEs up by 12% to £2.5bn and Residential Mortgages up by 14% to £2.9bn. Our innovative online deposit business supports this lending and our competitive, transparent products together with the recent launch of our SME Rate Checker have helped drive a 20% increase in SME deposits to £1.2bn.
"We’ve more than doubled underlying profit before tax to £44m compared with £21m for the first half of 2014. These excellent results give us great confidence for the rest of 2015 and beyond. We remain committed to delivering strong, sustainable returns to shareholders while generating growth and maintaining our disciplined approach to risk management and increased our underlying return on equity by around 7pts to nearly 19. We’re also making great progress towards our target of delivering a cost/income ratio of less than 40% by the end of 2017.
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By GlobalData"We’re excited by the significant ongoing growth opportunity presented by SMEs and homeowners, who we believe continue to be underserved by the wider market. Our track record and the great customer feedback we receive demonstrate that we’re exceptionally well placed to continue to support these customers and grow the business."
