Trading update fails to excite investors as OneSavings Bank’s share price falls
Double-digit growth is still on the cards at OneSavings Bank despite yesterday's resignations of two key board members.
Shares in the challenger bank fell by over 1.5 per cent after it updated the market on trading this morning.
The bank grew its loan book by 13 per cent for the first nine months of the year and net loans and advances stood at £5.6bn – up by £466m this year.
Read more: Chairman and non-executive director to leave challenger bank OneSavings
The firm said that profit margins on the loans it had issued during the third quarter – £510m in total – were "strong".
Chief exec Andy Golding said:
I am extremely pleased with the performance of the business this year.
This means we remain confident of achieving our net loan book growth target for this year and double-digit growth into 2017.
Yesterday, OneSavings said that chairman Mike Fairey will step down from his position at the 2017 annual general meeting and non-exec Dr David Morgan – who has been with the bank since it started – will leave at the end of the year.
The company was quick to calm investors and said it would be conducting a “comprehensive internal and external search” for a new non-executive chairman.
Read more: OneSavings Bank boss explains why his business is safe as houses
Despite the upcoming boardroom changes, Golding was keen to impress that more people were applying to the bank for loans than it had previously expected, he said: "Application levels for the second half to date are significantly in excess of the first half and our pipeline of new business is at a record level."
OneSavings revealed that it had picked up a portfolio of £60m of mortgages from another lender – it completed the deal on Monday – that "are predominantly owner occupied and well diversified across the UK".