The lender says its retail mortgages rose by 14% during 2022 to £7.6bn compared to a year ago, and remains the largest part of its lending book, accounting for 58% of all loans.   

It adds that during the period it received mortgage applications valued at over £4bn, up 182% on 2021. It completed over £2.1bn of mortgage lending, up 178% year-on-year.  

The bank says its mortgage portfolio continues to be primarily focused on owner-occupied loans, which make up 72% of balances, down from 75% a year ago, with the remainder consisting of retail buy-to-let lending.  

Overall, net loans lifted 7% to £13.1bn over the year, as residential mortgages and consumer lending grew, offsetting a fall in commercial term loans, such as portfolio BTL exposures and commercial real estate.   

It also set aside £39.9m to cover expected credit losses, compared to £22.4m a year ago, with the economy forecast to shrink this year.  

The bank says it was profitable in the final quarter of last year on an underlying basis — its first full quarter of underlying profit since the second quarter of 2019.  

The business admitted a £900m loan accounting error in 2019 and has since suffered losses, share price falls and regulatory fines.  

Metro Bank chief executive officer Daniel Frumkin says: “2022 has also seen us substantially close out the bank’s main legacy issues.”    

The lender plans to open 11 more branches, by the end of 2025, adding to its existing network of 76.  

The business says its common equity tier 1 ratio, a measure of the lender’s capital set against risk-weighted assets, is 10.3% compared to 12.6%, a year ago.