More than £600 million has been wiped off the value of Metro Bank following a profit warning that sparked concerns that it may have to raise more capital.
By late trading in London this afternoon shares in the challenger high street bank had plunged by 845p, or 38.4 per cent, to £13.57 after it revealed in an unscheduled trading update that its capital position had tumbled and that its annual profits had fallen well short of market expectations.
Although underlying pre-tax profits more than doubled to £50 million in 2018 from £21 million in 2017, they still significantly missed analyst forecasts for £59 million.
Metro’s capital ratio — a gauge of the bank’s financial strength — also fell to 15.8 per cent from 19.1 per