By Oliver Smith on Friday 19 March 2021
Green shoots for the green bank.
After the most disruptive year, sustainable bank Triodos still managed to wrap up 2020 on a high, with its UK customer base jumping 20 per cent to over 73,000.
Its UK loan book grew from £975m to £1,070m, up £62m in the second half of the year alone, and the subsidiary realised a £5.6m profit after tax.
"As well as broadening our offering, the popularity of our personal current account in the UK has been a significant driver of the growth in customer numbers,” said Bevis Watts, CEO of Triodos Bank UK.
“The pandemic is prompting more people to consider the impact of their money and it remains the most sustainable personal current account in the UK—an inspiring alternative to the still dominant, less sustainable large banks.”
Triodos operates in six countries across Europe, and saw its net profit across its markets fall to €27.2m (from €39m in 2019) while its expected credit loss provision finished the year at €23.9m (up from €12.6m in the first half of 2020).
Read more: Triodos Bank UK CEO - “We’re no ‘challenger bank’, we exist to challenge the way banking is done”
The UK arm of the business recognised impairment losses of £3m during the year, much higher than 2019’s £0.1m, but broadly in line with what Triodos said were its industry benchmarks.
“Ours is a strong model for what successful sustainable banking looks like and we remain steadfast in the promotion of responsible and transparent banking,” added Watts.
“We are proud of the support we have provided to our customers through Covid-19 at a time of real need and of the many inspiring organisations we finance across the country."
