OakNorth Bank sees pre-tax profits jump 95% in 2019 to £65.9m

By Bridging Loan Directory 9th March 2020

OakNorth Bank – the UK bank powered by OakNorth – has today published its 2019 Annual Report, revealing that it nearly doubled pre-tax profits last year to £65.9m – up from £33.9m in 2018.

Launched in September 2015, OakNorth Bank was recently named Europe’s fastest-growing company by the Financial Times and provides loans of typically between £500k to £25m to the “Missing Middle” – growth businesses that tend to have the largest impact on economies and communities but have been in banking’s blind spot for decades. Its Platform, which is being licensed to other banks around the world, combines fundamental credit analysis, rich data sets (which include unconventional and previously unavailable data), to provide the insight and foresight needed to holistically understand and profitably lend to these businesses.

The OakNorth approach to better borrowing, coupled with the operating efficiencies realised through the Platform, have enabled OakNorth Bank to rank amongst the top 1% of banks in the developed world by performance, and grow total loan facilities in 2019 to £3.1bn – despite ongoing uncertainty from Brexit and the general election. Through predictive, 360-degree monitoring of borrowers’ financial and operational data, the Platform provides OakNorth Bank with early warning indicators in case of deterioration in credit quality, enabling it to have proactive conversations with borrowers to help them avoid negative events.

Its lending to UK businesses in 2019 has been supported by a loyal and growing UK deposit customer base. The combination of its competitive rates, FSCS-protection, broad range of products, digitally-led proposition and excellent customer service[5] have helped it attract deposits from 144,000 savers (up from 28,000 in 2018) and cement partnerships with other leading fintechs.

Rishi Khosla, CEO and co-founder of OakNorth Bank, commented:

“We built OakNorth to provide a better borrowing experience – borrowing the way it should be. In four years, we have been able to leverage OakNorth’s Platform to build one of the most successful new banks globally, and in doing so, help hundreds of UK businesses who have in turn created thousands of new homes and jobs. Our model is proving that it’s possible to delight customers and put them at the heart of your business, whilst generating a profitable and environmentally sustainable business. While I am humbled to see what we have accomplished in our first four years, this is only the beginning. I am excited to demonstrate the power of our Platform and continue to work with our partner banks around the world to enable businesses and economies to thrive.”