Metro Bank has agreed a deal to sell its £584m portfolio of unsecured personal loans as part of a move to prioritise specialist lending.

The bank did not confirm who had bought the portfolio but said the deal would result in an estimated £11m gain on sale upon completion.

Metro Bank described the transaction as “capital accretive” and said it would create additional lending capacity to continue its asset rotation towards higher yielding commercial, corporate, SME lending and specialist mortgages.

The portfolio, which has a gross book value of £584m with a weighted average rate of 5.3%, consists of performing unsecured personal loans with an average remaining fixed-rate term of 2.4 years.

Metro Bank CEO, Daniel Frumkin, said: “The sale of our unsecured personal loan book is in line with our strategy and positions Metro Bank strongly for future growth. Upon completion, the transaction is capital accretive and will allow us to further optimise our balance sheet as we strengthen our position as a specialist lender of choice.”

---