Metro Bank has returned to plans to sell off some of its residential mortgage portfolio after shelving the idea last year, it has been reported.
Reported in Sky News, the lender is said to be working with Morgan Stanley on the process of raising money for the disposal of its mortgage portfolio. When the bank first tabled the idea last year, it priced its mortgage portfolio at £3m, but it has been reported that the value could be closer to £4m.
Metro Bank confirmed it was looking to dispose of loans to improve its profitability and reduce its risk-weighted assets as it sought a £925m rescue package.
The rescue deal was approved by shareholders in November, comprising a £325m capital raise and £600m of debt refinancing.
It then dropped plans to sell off its mortgage portfolio in December, citing market conditions.
Santander, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Natwest were among the firms that expressed interest in the portfolio, it was reported.
Metro Bank closed the 2023 financial year with a statutory pre-tax profit of £30.5m, the first time the lender reported a profit since 2018. Its mortgage lending rose by 2% to £7.8bn.
In the first quarter of this year, Metro Bank completed £11.8bn in mortgage lending, which was down on the previous quarter and lower than the same period a year earlier.
The bank attributed this to a focus “towards higher-yielding specialist mortgages and SME/commercial lending”.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
