Close Brothers confident of 'good result' for full year

FTSE 250 merchant bank Close Brothers said on Friday that it remains confident of a “good result” for the current financial year as it has continued to perform well across all divisions.

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In a pre-close trading update ahead of its 2017 financial year end, the company said the loan book in its banking division was up 6.4% year-to-date to £6.8bn.

The property finance division continued to perform well, with solid demand and strong loan book growth, while the retail unit benefited from strong growth in the premium finance business and Close Bros said it continues to prioritise margins and credit quality in motor finance.

In commercial finance, growth remained modest, consistent with the current point in the cycle.

Overall, the company said its bad debt ratio remains in line with the prior year and the net interest margin is broadly stable as it applies its “prudent and consistent” lending criteria across all of its businesses.

Close Brothers’ market maker, Winterflood, delivered a good performance year to date supported by continued strong retail trading activity throughout the period.

In asset management, meanwhile, it saw strong net inflows and benefited from positive market movements. As a result, managed assets were up 9% year to date to £8.8bn while and total client assets grew 11% to £11bn.