Starter for three: Cambridge & Counties Bank announces record growth in deposits, lending and customer acquisition
Cambridge & Counties Bank today revealed it had boosted its deposits, lending and customer acquisition by record levels in 2016.
The figures
The challenger bank, which launched in 2012 and is jointly owned by University of Cambridge college Trinity Hall and the Cambridgeshire Local Government Pension Fund, revealed profits before tax had leapt to £18.1m for the year ending December 2016, up 77 per cent compared with £10.2m the year before.
Meanwhile, deposits grew by 45 per cent to £685m in the course of the year and the number of depositing customers rose by 50 per cent to 6,000, up from 4,000. Lending balances increased by 41 per cent to £588m, compared with the prior year's £416m.
Cambridge also reported its total capital ratio now stands at 14 per cent.
Why it's interesting
Cambridge & Counties, which focuses on small business banking, has performed well given the increasingly difficult landscape lenders are up against, defined by lower for longer interest rates and uncertainty sparked by last summer's Brexit vote.
At a time when other lenders are laying off staff, Cambridge also revealed today it had increased staff numbers over the year from 94 to 121, while customer satisfaction levels stayed strong at 99 per cent.
What Cambridge & Counties Bank said
"Despite growing competition from traditional banks and new entrants, demand for our product range and the service we offer has remained strong," said Mike Kirsopp, chief executive at Cambridge & Counties Bank. "With increasing profits providing the capital to fund our balance sheet growth and our expectation of a relatively stable interest rate environment, we are optimistic for further strong growth in 2017."
Simon Moore, non-executive chairman, added:
In many ways, 2016 was a tumultuous year, but our business continued to enjoy strong growth. The strength of our product line and the quality of our staff means that we can continue to offer some of the best and most customised service levels in the industry.