The challenger bank announced Thursday (Nov. 12) that its board had begun a review of options for boosting growth, including launching a formal sale process.
“Metro Bank continues to demonstrate its business and financial momentum, having reported the highest profits in its history for Full Year 2025, alongside continued growth in retail and business current account balances and in target lending segments, whilst maintaining strong credit quality,” the announcement said.
A report on the potential sale by the Financial Times (FT) notes that the move comes after the bank launched its third round of layoffs in as many years in January.
The lender’s “significant progress . . . means it is now well positioned to consider a broader range of strategic opportunities for its next phase of growth”, Metro Bank said, though it added that “is not in any active discussions” with potential buyers.
Per the FT report, Metro became the first new high street bank in the U.K. in a century when it launched in 2010. The company went public in 2016 at a £1.6 billion valuation.
The bank has since suffered a series of setbacks, the report added. Metro Bank was forced to raise emergency capital in 2023 when its shares plunged more than 50%. That came after the bank admitted that regulators had not permitted a change to capital requirements on Metro’s mortgage book.
The Financial Conduct Authority fined Metro £16.7 million pounds in 2024 for a lack of proper money laundering protections on 60 million transactions between 2016 and 2020,
Metro Bank last week reported quarterly earnings showing loan growth of 37%, driven by lending to commercial, corporate and small business customers. As covered here last month, lending to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) has been particularly lucrative for the U.K.’s neobanks, as larger lenders move away from that segment.
Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has shown the difficulties SMBs have in obtaining funding, with roughly half of these businesses depending on day-to-day sales proceeds or cash already in the bank to stay in operation.
Just 44% of SMBs reported having access to financing and working-capital solutions, according to PYMNTS Intelligence research into how small businesses finance themselves during times of uncertainty.
