UK bank reports rise in Q1 profits

LONDON: British bank Shawbrook reported a jump in first-quarter underlying pretax profit on Thursday, and said it would expand customer loan balances to 8.5 billion pounds ($12.34 billion) by 2020.The lender, which was founded in 2011 and went public last year, said underlying pretax profit rose 20 percent to 22.3 million pounds for the quarter ended March 31.Net loans and advances grew 6 percent to 3.57 billion pounds.

Shawbrook lowered its full-year net interest margin guidance slightly to 5.5 percent.

The bank has been aiming to maintain net interest margin at about 6 percent in the medium term, according to the target set during the initial public offering.