Challenger bank Aldermore has revealed a 20% rise in pre-tax profits in its first results since last year’s takeover by South Africa’s FirstRand Group.
Its unaudited annual results for 2017 showed underlying pre-tax profits up 20% to £160m, while net loan growth expanded 15% to £8.6 billion.
Its business finance portfolio, which includes asset finance, invoice finance, commercial mortgages and property development, increased 9% to £2.9 billion.
FirstRand agreed a £1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) takeover of Aldermore Group last year.
The deal could open a range of future business growth opportunities as FirstRand already owns the MotoNovo vehicle finance business through its subsidiary WesBank.
Aldermore was founded in 2009 by a former Barclays executive as one of the challenger banks that emerged after the financial crisis to fill a gap in small business lending.
Following the announcement of the annual results, Phillip Monks OBE, Aldermore chief executive officer, said: “We have continued to focus on customers as individuals, going beyond the one-size fits all approach in carefully selected market segments where we have real expertise and can offer superior levels of service, whilst also maintaining a robust approach to risk management.
“2017 was a landmark year for Aldermore, as our success attracted a takeover approach from South Africa’s FirstRand Group. Now that the transaction has completed, we are excited to be working with our new parent company and exploring the opportunities to further accelerate the delivery of our strategy.
“With the backing of FirstRand our ambition will only grow and we aim to further support businesses and individuals with enhanced digital services and a broader range of straightforward propositions.”
