How many UK banks are loss making?

Two years the answer was fifty, now this has fallen to forty.

Haven't made a profit in...

5 years
Diamond Bank (UK) Plc, although the pre-tax loss for 2013 at £1.4million is the least worse of the last five years.
European Islamic Investment Bank Plc.
Islamic Bank of Britain Plc, although the loss for 2013 is the lowest.
Kleinwort Benson Bank Ltd.

P N B (Europe) Plc.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc.
Ulster Bank Ltd.

4 years
Harrods Bank Ltd.

Metro Bank Ltd. Losses continue to rise, but at least the rate of increase is continuing to slow.

Northern Bank Ltd.

Standard Bank Plc, although pre-tax loss for 2013 is the lowest.

3 years
Bank of Ceylon (UK) Ltd.

Credit Suisse International. With a pre-tax loss of £59million, 2013 is the least worse of the least three years, although it has only made a profit once in the last five years.

Duncan Lawrie Ltd. It has only made a pre-tax profit once in the past five years.

F C M B (UK) Ltd, which hasn't made a pre-tax profit since inception.

G E Capital Bank Ltd.

Hampshire Trust Plc.

H F C Bank Ltd.
Mizuho International Plc.
National Westminster Bank Plc.

R B C Europe Ltd.

The worst bank in the UK is...

Of all the UK banks that have made a loss in every one of the last three, four or five years, as below, only one has, over the relevant period, made a worse loss in each successive year. That bank is Metro Bank Plc.

Its pre-tax loss figures for year ends, are:


31st December 2010 (66 weeks):  £23,386,000 loss.
31st December 2011: £33,096,000 loss.
31st December 2012: £45,728,000 loss.

The only other bank to get close to Metro Bank Plc is European Islamic Investment Bank Plc, which has made a loss in each of the past 5 years. However, for the year ending 31st December 2010, the loss of £6.6million was actually an improvement compared to the previous two years although the loss has increased in the two subsequent years.

Are the well capitalised banks the biggest banks?

When it comes to lending there are good banks, there are reckless banks and then there are all those in the middle. As a shareholder one wants to see a good return on one's investment but in pushing a bank too far into unsuitable lending in the search for ever better returns one wants / needs a good capital base to weather the storms that crop up from time to time. The alternative is to plump for a bank that is well capitalised and prudent in its lending.

Interestingly, the 11 best capitalised banks (capital / assets) are all in the bottom 50 in terms of total assets, suggesting that biggest isn't always best.

The eleven are:
1. China Construction Bank (London) Ltd
2. Melli Bank Plc
3. Bank of the Philippine Islands (Europe) Plc
4. Metro Bank Plc
5. European Islamic Investment Bank Plc
6. C I T Bank Ltd
7. Allied Bank Philippines (UK) Plc
8. Bank Saderat Plc
9. Macquarie Bank International Ltd
10. Gatehouse Bank Plc
11. A N Z Bank (Europe) Ltd