How many UK banks are loss making?

The answer is 44, compared to 50 a year ago.The average loss is around £24 million per bank although this figure is somewhat skewed by Royal Bank of Scotland and its banking subsidiaries. Without Ulster Bank and Nat West's figures, each bank made an average profit of around £15 million.

5 banks consistently profitable over the past 4 years

As noted previously, British Arab Commercial Bank Plc tops the latest Pre-Tax Profit Growth Table due to a leap back to the sort of figure that we would expect (£13,555,000 for 2012) against a relatively low base of £209,000 for 2011. Both Adam & Co Plc and United National Bank Ltd record growth of over 1000% for much the same reason.

It is therefore useful to look again at the average for the last four years.

Although, once again, the growth for British Arab Commercial Bank Plc of 6385% for 2012 compared to 2011 has put it at the top of the 4 year average table, for two of the comparative years there has been a fall in profit.


Union Bank comes in at second place despite a recent fall in profit. FBN Bank (UK) Ltd comes in at third place and Methodist Chapel Aid Ltd comes in fifth.


None of these six banks however has shown an increase in profit each year over the past four years. When we reported six months ago there were only three banks that could be awarded this accolade which suggests strong, steady growth. They were Vanquis Bank Ltd, ABC International Bank Plc and Standard Chartered Bank. To those three we can now add two more: Sainsbury's Bank Plc and Zenith Bank (UK) Ltd, having both turned in impressive profits for 2012.

The number of UK banks continues to rise

For the last 6 months we have seen no banks come off the Bank of England's List of Banks, but we have seen two new ones come on. These are Union Bank of India (UK) Ltd and FCMB (UK) Ltd, a subsidiary of First City Monument Bank Plc of Nigeria. The number of UK banks now stands at 156.

And then the missing £1!

Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Ltd and the missing £10,000

Only 3 banks consistently profitable over the part 4 years

British Arab Commercial Bank Plc tops the latest Pre-Pax Profit Growth Table due to a leap back to the sort of figure that we would expect (£13,555,000 for 2012) against a relatively low base of £209,000 for 2011. Both Adam & Co Plc and United National Bank Ltd record growth of over 1000% for much the same reason.

It is therefore useful to look at the average for the last four years.

Although, once again, the growth for British Arab Commercial Bank Plc of 6385% for 2012 compared to 2011 has put it at the top of the 4 year average table, for two of the comparative years there has been a fall in profit.

There are only three banks that have shown an increase in profit each year over the past four years. they are
Vanquis Bank Ltd, ABC International Bank Plc and Standard Chartered Bank.

Two banks come, four banks go and three change names

Following the publication of the 2013 / 14 edition of Bank League Tables the following banks have been added:
Itau BBA International Plc
Axis Bank UK Ltd

The following have been removed:
AMC Bank Ltd
Broadcastle Bank Ltd
Canada Square Operations Plc
MBNA Europe Bank Ltd

The following have changed names:
BIRA Finance Ltd to BIRA Bank Ltd
Intercontinental Bank (UK) Plc to Diamond Bank (UK) Plc
Smith & Williamson Investment Management Ltd to Smith & Williamson Investment Services Ltd

For the 2013 / 14 we have 154 banks included.

Brown Shipley & Co Ltd and the missing £1,000

It may just be a rounding-up error but you would have thought that someone would have spotted that when you add up the liabilities on Brown Shipley's consolidated statement of financial position as at 31st December 2012 in their 2012 accounts they total £335,954,000 and not £335,953,000.

Bank of Beirut (UK) Ltd

The latest batch of annual reports seem to have more errors than normal.

The 2012 annual report for Bank of Beirut shows total liabilities as at 31st December 2012 of £298,534,323 and total equity of £70,759,895. Add them together and the final digit should be an "8". In the accounts it's a "9". Only one £ we know, but can't these guys add up? What's more, when you go to the notes there are no sections 16, 17, 18 and 19. We wonder what they're hiding?!

On a lighter note, Bank of Beriut is one of a select number of banks that have made a pre-tax profit in all of at least the last 5 years.

Credit Suisse International's remuneration of its highest paid director a little bit surprising

For the 2012 year, as just reported, Credit Suisse International's remuneration of its highest paid director was US$ 6,652,000 comprising pay, defined cash awards and pensions contributions. Not bad for a bank that made a pre-tax loss for that year of US$359 million and which has only made a profit once in the past 5 years.

Bank League Tables nearly ready

Bank League Tables 2013/14 are nearly ready. Contact us for more details.

Most consistently profitable bank

Measured over the last 4 years there is only one bank that has increased pre-tax profit year on year.

It is:

Standard Chartered Bank. £4,109,000,000 to £6,769,000,000

Over the last 3 years there are six:

Ahli United Bank (UK) Plc. £3,675,000 to £50,881,000
Sainsbury's Bank Plc. £5,900,000 to £39,700,000
Vanquis Bank Ltd. £8,994,000 to £44,700,000
Zenith Bank (UK) Ltd. £1,999,421 to £5,104,963
Close Brothers Ltd. £53,300,000 to £140,200,000
ABC International Bank Plc. £9,886,000 to £20,547,000.

Fattest Cat

The fattest cat at present is a director of Standard Chartered Bank who, for the year to 31st December 2011, earned US$11,191,000. All in all, 25 banks paid their highest paid director more than £1,000,000.

And the safest bank is...

....Bank of the Philippine Islands (Europe) plc.

Ignoring start up situations, Bank of the Philippine Islands (Europe) Plc ha a capital assets ratio of 87.12%, putting it 4th in that table.

Vanquis Bank storming up the tables

With a return on capital of 43.70%, Vanquis Bank Ltd is positioned 4th in this table. Return on assets figure of 9.19% places it second. With a pre-tax profit growth of 91.85% it is positioned 13th; 25th in asset growth and 17th in capital growth. (Not surprising, therefore, that its highest paid director received £1,700,000 putting them 12th in that table). Lucky parent, Provident Financial Plc; unlucky Vanquis customers who pay a "representative 39.9% APR at present", a cash advance fee of 3% (minimum £3 - making taking out a tenner a 30% cost), and foreign currency transaction charge of 2.99%.

How many UK banks are loss making?

Two years on and 1 in 3 UK banks are still loss making. Of the 156 UK registered banks, 50 are loss making. Whilst The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc made a pre-tax loss of £719,000,000 - its best result for 4 years- , National Westminster Bank Plc has worsened, reporting a pre-tax loss of £4,427,000,000 compared to £2,381,000,000 for the previous year. At least Coutts & Co - another RBS group bank - has continued to make a profit, £157,464,000 for the latest year. (All figures for year to 31st December 2011).

Bank of Communications (UK) Ltd shows 6735% growth!

Occasionally statistics throw up an oddity. In its second year in the UK, Bank of Communications (UK) Ltd, a subsidiary of the Chinese-based Bank of Communications Co, Limited, has shown an asset growth of 6735.36%, putting it top of that particular table. This is due to it being a start-up situation where the issued share capital has increased from £162 to £100,000,000.

There are, however, nine other banks that show an asset growth of over 100%. These are (2) Goldman Sachs International Bank, (3) Shawbrook Bank Ltd, (4) Gatehouse Bank Plc, (5) State Street Bank Europe Ltd, (6) G E Capital Bank Ltd, (7) Talos Securities Ltd, (8) QIB (UK) Plc, (9) Aldermore Bank Bank Plc and (10) Metro Bank Plc.

More Banks

For the 6 months to December 2012 more banks have been registered than have deregistered.

The new banks are:
Bank of Cyprus UK Limited, and
Cambridge and Counties Bank Limited

Three have changed their name:
J P Morgan Securities Limited is now J P Morgan Securities Plc
Egg Banking Plc is now Canade Square Operations Plc, and
Northern Rock Plc is now Virgin Money Plc.

There has been one deletion, Pensions Bank Limited.

Chairmans' understatements

"The Bank's financial performance remains below what the Board believes acceptable". Chairman of Islamic Bank of Britain Plc which has not made a profit for at least 5 years.

"The Bank has improved its balance sheet position and is well positioned for growth in 2012". Chairman of Bank of Ireland (UK) Plc which made a pre-tax loss of £42 million for 2011.

"...solid underlying business performance...". Chairman of Bank of London & the Middle East Plc which made a pre-tax loss of £10.8 million for 2011.

2012/13 edition out

The new edition of Bank League Tables is out this week.