Aldermore sees

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Net lending to customers was up 8% to £13.4bn, from £12.4bn the previous year, and MotoNovo Finance was up £1.2bn to £3.0bn.

Retail Mortgages remained flat on the prior year, at £7.3bn, as the group temporarily withdrew some higher risk products to manage risk appetite.

Compared to the prior year, business finance was down 5% at £3.1bn, from £3.3bn in 2020, as customer activity levels were significantly impacted during lockdown periods.

Total customer deposits have increased 14% to £12.4bn, with the business reporting strong performance across personal, business and corporate.

Net interest margins increased to 3.4%, benefitting from an improved cost of funds in the low interest rate environment and the positive impact on business mix as a result of MotoNovo Finance growth.

Cost to income ratio of 53% has increased reflecting investment in automation and operational resilience, and the reintroduction of staff bonuses.

Cost of Risk reduced to 40bps, lower than the first half of the year as the macroeconomic outlook has continued to improve throughout the year and the majority of customers requiring payment holidays have returned to full payments.

As a result of higher profitability, group return on equity has increased to 10.9% and CET1 ratio remained strong at 13.9%.

Steven Cooper, chief executive of Aldermore Group, said: “First of all, I wish to thank Phillip Monks, my predecessor, who in just over a decade grew Aldermore into a business that’s now backing over 650,0001 customers; it’s an honour to be able to lead the Group into the future.

“During the year, we’ve delivered a robust performance and achieved growth through a period of unprecedented economic uncertainty.

“Our priorities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic have been to support our customers as well as safeguard our colleagues’ wellbeing.

“We helped almost 200,000 customers buy a vehicle and increased deposits by 14% with our consistently competitive savings products.

“We also granted payment breaks to almost 57,000 customers, with 98% now resuming full repayments, and provided over 800 SMEs with government-backed funding.

“As the UK begins to recover from the pandemic, we’re working even harder to ensure that SMEs and individuals can seize the opportunities that lie ahead.

“We’re enhancing our customer propositions across the Group by providing tailored commercial mortgage products, delivering industry-leading motor finance with our MotoRate pricing solution, reintroducing our wide residential mortgage product range, and continuing to support business and personal savers with our award-winning offering.

“We’re also increasing investment in technology, people, customer experience and operating capacity to ensure the group can deliver on its longer term growth ambitions, and ensure we continue to provide customers with a great experience and competitive products they’ve come to expect from us.”