Metro Bank Company Research (MTRO)

Metro Bank has announced strong Q325 results, characterised by strong lending growth to higher-margin targeted areas, up 12% versus H125. This targeted lending to corporate/commercial/SME clients has borne fruit, with Metro’s exit net interest margin (NIM) in September reaching 3.03%, within the year-end guidance of 3.00–3.25%. We expect further expansion over the next years, and the Q3 results give us added comfort that the story is evolving ahead of our growth expectations. We have slightly increased our estimates for FY25 on the back of these positive results. The market reacted positively, with shares up c 8% at the beginning of trading.