Metro Bank set to net its millionth customer

Metro Bank’s customer numbers neared the one million mark as the challenger bank made further inroads into the Big Five, but profits missed City forecasts.

In the first quarter Metro added 72,000 customers, taking the total to 987,000. Chief executive Craig Donaldson reckons Metro will end up with “several million” customers.

The bank, known for allowing pets in branches and insisting it wants to win fans rather than merely customers, made a profit for the third quarter running.

The £2 million it made this time was £1 million shy of what Panmure Gordon was hoping for. The broker told clients: “While Metro is making progress the growth this quarter is lower than our expectation.” It reckons the shares are fully priced. They fell 68p to 3518p.

Metro received £1.1 billion of deposits in the three months, taking the total to £9 billion. It plans to open 10 more branches this year, as rivals shut theirs.

Donaldson said he no longer regards Metro as a “challenger” and would like to come up with a different description.