Close Brothers says bad debts are falling as it signals strong start to year
CLOSE BROTHERS, the merchant bank, has made a strong start to its financial year as funds under management grew and the loan book increased and bad debts fell.
The 131-year-old bank, which financed the first railway in Alaska, said its loan book had grown by three per cent to £2.43bn in the three months to October 31 and interest margins remained strong.
Close Brothers said bad debts had fallen from a cycle high of 3.1 per cent of average loan book but did not put a figure on where it was at in the first quarter.
In terms of the outlook for loan defaults Close Brothers warned that the climate was “uncertain”.
Treasury income continues to be impacted by lower margins on deposits.
This month the bank launched three new Premium Gold accounts which require a minimum £10,000 deposit to cash in on high demand for fixed rate savings accounts.
Close Savings is targeting some of the £22bn which is believed to have matured between May and October 2009 from other savings institutions.