Metro Bank prepares for £1bn Float

Sky News reports that Metro has already asked investment bankers to pitch for roles advising on an IPO which could value the bank at over £1bn and target around £300m in fundraising proceeds.

Metro was rumoured to have been eyeing an initial public offering in 2014, but postponed plans after raising almost £390 million through a private share offering.

Speaking at the time, Vernon Hill, Metro Bank’s co-founder and chairman, said:

"Lots of people in Metro wanted to put some more money in on a private stage and we thought we could maximise the value by doing the float in 2016.

“There was tremendous demand on both sides of the Atlantic. We have been here long enough to prove this service-focused model will work well in Britain.”

New stores in Cambridge, Brighton and Southend opened in Q1, taking the bank's total number of stores to 36, with a further five stores planned in 2015.

The bank's loss after tax continues to decline quarter on quarter, with a loss of £8.5 million after tax in Q1, which the bank say reflects their continued investment in people, infrastructure and technology. This compares to a loss of £10.6 million after tax in the same quarter last year, a year on year decrease of 20%, and an £8.9 million loss after tax in the final quarter of 2014.

Despite this, Metro Bank's 2014 financial statements have shown that total deposits grew to £2,867 million, representing growth of 118% over 2014 and quarterly growth of 22%.

Lending to business and personal customers more than doubled over 2014, reaching £1,597 million at the end of Q4, an increase of 112% year on year. The bank has previously said that it hopes to break even by the end of the year.

Challenger banks Shawbrook, Aldermore, and Virgin Money have all floated within the last year.

Metro Bank declined to comment at the time of writing.