Atom Bank forecasts 2022 annual profitability as deposits hit £6bn

Lender Atom Bank is forecasting its first annual profit for the financial year 2022, after turning a £4.5m operating profit in its third quarter to December.

That now marks the third quarter in a row of profitability.

CEO Mark Mullen told The Times that the challenger bank had “vanishingly small” bad debts on its books as it approaches the end of its financial year on 31 March.

Atom’s deposits grew by 45 per cent in its third quarter alone, reaching £5.5bn, which resulted in net interest income of £21.1m (up from £16.7m in Q2).

Since Christmas, that deposit base has now surpassed £6bn.

Atom Bank told AltFi: “We are optimistic that we will hit full year operating profit in March for the first time.”

Meanwhile, customer numbers at the bank have also increased in line with its rising deposits, up 34 per cent in Q3 to over 196,000 (and since then surpassing 200,000).

In its 2021 financial year Atom narrowed its losses to just £2m, the lowest level since the bank was founded in 2016.

While approaching profitability, Atom Bank last year delayed its plans to IPO, with Mullen saying that a “liquidity event” was now more likely in 2024 or 2025.