Metro Bank PLC (LON: MTRO) have updated the market on the departure of their Chief Executive Donaldson.
Shares of Metro Bank trade at 179p (-0.56%). 5/12/19 14:40BST.
The firm has seen a mixed trading period across 2019. In January, the firm saw its shares tumble after expectations were missed.
The firm said that their underlying profits in 2018 missed analyst expectations, as the lender reported a 138% rise in profits to £50 million in the year to 31 December 2018, however, profits were £9 million lower than expectations.
Later in the year, the firm managed to secure a £375 million injection following a share placing plan. This came after a few months of struggle after its share price lost 75% of its value amid an accounting error.
Metro Bank said its Chief Executive Craig Donaldson will step down at the end of the year, with newly-appointed Chief Transformation Officer Dan Frumkin taking over on an interim basis.
Donaldson, who took over as CEO in 2009, will remain “available to the board as an advisor” until the end of 2020, the firm said in a statement.
The challenger bank paid tribute to Donaldson, for leading it through a “challenging” period. Metro saw themselves slip out of the FTSE250 index back in September, and has been struggling after a series of accounting and financial errors.
Metro Bank had to postpone a debt issue in September due to “market conditions”.
Frumkin’s appointment as interim CEO from January 1, subject to regulatory approval, comes shortly after he joined the firm in September. Metro Bank said it is considering both an internal and external appointment to find a permanent CEO.
Chair Michael Snyder said: “On behalf of the board and all our colleagues, I want to thank Craig for his steadfast leadership of the bank over the past 10 years. Thanks to his passion and commitment, today Metro Bank serves nearly two million customer accounts and is rated number one for personal current account service.
“My priority is to appoint a permanent CEO and to appoint new non-executive directors to the board who will bring even more retail banking experience. I look forward to steering the bank as we define and start to deliver the next chapter.”
The struggles that Metro Bank have faced across 2019 have been reinforced by the changes that Moody’s made on Monday, where they lowered the UK banking sector outlook from stable to negative.
Metro Bank, joins a long list of global banks who have found it tough to operate in a cut throat market.
At the end of October, Lloyds Banking Group PLC saw their shares crash following a poor quarterly update. The firm saw a 97% fall in pre-tax profit for the third quarter from last year.
Additionally, profit before tax for the third quarter fell 97 percent to 50 million pounds from £1.82 billion last year.
Another notable firm which have seen struggles worse than Metro Bank is Deutsche Bank.
The German lender have collapsed across 2019, with the firm now fighting to stay afloat in a cutthroat market. Deutsche Bank saw a €3.1 billion loss at the end of July, following a strategy which pledged transformation after they axed 18,000 jobs at the end of June.
Metro Bank’s Chief Executive steps down at a time where market trading has never been tougher, a new director will have to take over the reins and turn fortunes around.
A full company report for Metro Bank can be found here from the UK Investor Magazine.
