Close Brothers Group (CBG) Q1 2026 TU earnings summary

Executive summary

• Solid start to FY2026 with ongoing cost reduction initiatives and focus on operational efficiency and growth priorities.

• Strong capital position maintained, supporting future growth as a specialist banking group.

• Continued engagement with the FCA regarding proposed motor finance commission redress scheme.

Financial highlights

• Banking business delivered good underlying profitability, supported by a strong net interest margin and stable bad debt.

• Loan book decreased 1% in the quarter to £9.4bn, reflecting subdued demand amid external uncertainty.

• Annualised year-to-date net interest margin was 7.1%, aided by temporary higher behavioural fee income.

• Annualised year-to-date bad debt ratio was 1.0%, indicating resilient credit quality.

• Group central functions reported an operating loss of £13.0m (Q1 2025: £14.2m), in line with guidance.

Outlook and guidance

• Guidance for FY2026 remains unchanged from the 2025 preliminary results.

• Net interest margin expected to be slightly below 7% for FY2026 due to loan book mix.

• On track to deliver c.£20m annualised savings in FY2026 and at least c.£20m per annum in the following two years.