London bank OakNorth reports ‘exceptional’ growth as pre-tax profit hits £10.6m in 2017

OakNorth, the London-based bank, has published its 2017 Annual Report, revealing that it made £10.6m profit last year.

Launched in September 2015, OakNorth offers loans of £500k to £30m to fast-growth UK businesses and established property developers and investors.

The bank has now grown its loan book to £1bn with clients across multiple sectors and regions, including: LEON, Brasserie Bar Co., Padella, NetPay, ICP Nurseries, Galliard, Frogmore, and The Collective.

Throughout 2017, OakNorth profitably tripled its loan book and also launched several new savings products including easy access and fixed-rate cash ISAs, and savings accounts for businesses.

OakNorth became the first bank to complete a loan under the British Business Bank’s Help to Grow Programme and received full authorisation from the Bank of England to join its Term Funding Scheme.

In addition, the holding company closed a £250m investment round with GIC, Toscafund, Clermont Group and Coltrane Asset Management, and began commercialising its fintech platform, ACORN machine.

Rishi Khosla, CEO and co-founder of OakNorth, said: “It has been another exceptional year for OakNorth; we have solidified our position in the SME lending market, providing over £1bn of gross lending in the UK, helping hundreds of businesses achieve their growth ambitions.

“Despite the exceptional growth of our loan book, we have ensured that the quality of credit has not been jeopardised, as evidenced by the fact that we’ve not had a single default to date.

“The next 12 months will present some unique challenges for UK businesses as the Brexit deadline approaches and the nation prepares to finally leave the EU.

“While some lenders will use this as an excuse to slow down decision-making even further and put SME lending on the back burner, we plan to continue building on our loan book and lending at least another £1bn this year.”