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Close Brothers Group PLC on Wednesday reported a rise in loan book for the third quarter of financial 2023. From February 1 to April 30, the London-based merchant banking group said in Banking, its loan book increased 2.0% to £9.2 billion, and 1.3% year-to-date. The firm said this was driven by continued strong new business volumes in Commercial, as well as increased drawdowns and a slowdown in repayments in Property Finance. However, Close Brothers said the Retail book declined primarily as the run-off of the Irish Motor Finance business more than offset a stable UK Motor loan book. The annualised year-to-date net interest margin remained strong at 7.8%, unchanged from a year earlier. This reflected ‘both pricing discipline on new lending and actions taken to optimise the group’s liability mix and funding costs in a rising rate environment’, the firm said. Chief Executive Officer Adrian Sainsbury said: ‘We performed well in the third quarter, with loan book growth accelerating, a strong net interest margin and stable credit performance in Banking. The Asset Management division delivered increased net inflows, although trading activity remained subdued in Winterflood.’ In 2021, Close Brothers decided to permanently cease the approval of lending to new customers across all the products offered by Novitas and withdraw from the legal services financing market. Looking ahead, Close Brothers said it remains mindful of the impact of rising inflation and interest rates on customers. In March, the firm said pretax profit in the six months to January 31 plunged 91% year-on-year to £11.7 million from £128.9 million. Investment losses increased to £162.2 million from £48.3 million a year before. Shares were down 0.9% at 931.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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