5 December 2017 – final results
The AIM-listed specialist banking group has revealed annual results to 30 September revealing underlying pre-tax profits up 25% to £5.0m although earnings per share declined to 1.5p (2016: 1.7p) due to an increase in the number of shares in issue following the fund raising in April. The group commenced its banking operations in July and new customer deposits of £53m were received by the year end. The group’s loan portfolio has risen by 20% to £146m whilst the impairment charge was at a record low of just 0.5%. The final dividend was increased by 90% to 0.19p. The year was one of significant progress at the group and given the encouraging prospects for the current year we maintain our recommendation of BUY.