Digital bank Starling has posted its first ever pre-tax profit after moving into the mortgage market.
The bank, founded by its Swansea-born chief executive Anne Boden, has reported a pre-tax profit of £32.1m for the financial year ending 31 March 2022 compared to pre-tax loss of £31.5m in the previous year. Revenues for the year grew to £188m, up 90%, as it built on its the mortgage capability it gained through the acquisition of Fleet Mortgages in July last year, with more than £2 billion of mortgages now on the balance sheet as at June 2022.
This growth in lending has been funded by Starling’s growing deposit base, which increased by a further £600m in just three months.
For the Q1 of its current financial year it has achieved an annualised revenue run rate of £331.2m driven by year on year lending growth of 72% to £4bn.
Ms Boden, said: “ “With our first full year of profitability, we’ve placed ourselves firmly in a category of one. As an innovative digital bank with a sustainable business model and a strong balance sheet we are generating our own capital and we stand apart from both the old banks and other challengers.”
The maiden pre-tax profit comes as Starling has seen its Cardiff operation swell to nearly 900 staff – far exceeding initial job creation forecasts.
The fintech venture, which now has three million customers in the UK and is likely to float on the London Stock Exchange over the next two years, originally committed to creating 400 jobs when unveiling its office investment in the city– at Brunel House– back in 2020.
