Metro Bank may grow into more than just a mosquito

Outlook Another company that has made deft use of PR stunts and branding is Metro Bank, but I’m not about to throw any bricks in its direction. It was a bit hard to take seriously when it launched, what with the gaudy merchandise and the free dog biscuits on offer at its Central London branch.

No longer. Metro Bank has come on a long way, with over 30 branches. The results show the bank is still losing money (£8.5m after tax in the first quarter) but those losses are narrowing, and most of its other numbers are going in the right direction.

When set against a Lloyds or a Barclays, Metro is little more than a mosquito buzzing around an elephant. But Aldi and Lidl started out that way when compared to Tesco and Sainsbury and look at them now. If Metro Bank can just keep the service levels going, it will be worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as those two. That will not be easy given the rate at which it is growing. But you wouldn’t want to bet against it.